back to Rainer Maria Rilke

“In the Beginning” by Rainer Maria Rilke 🇦🇹 (4 Dec 1875 – 29 Dec 1926)
Translated from the German by Albert Ernest Flemming
Ever since those wondrous days of Creation
our Lord God sleeps: we are His sleep.
And He accepted this in His indulgence,
resigned to rest among the distant stars.
​
Our actions stopped Him from reacting,
for His fist-tight hand is numbed by sleep,
and the times brought in the age of heroes
during which our dark hearts plundered Him.
​
Sometimes He appears as if tormented,
and His body jerks as if plagued by pain;
but these spells are always outweighed by the
number of His countless other worlds.