‘Where I Am Going’
Where I Am Going
Again the murmur of my own deep life grows stronger,
flowing along wider shores.
Things grow ever more related to me,
and I see farther into their forms.
I become more trustful of the nameless.
My mind, like a bird,
rises from the oak tree into the wind,
and my heart sinks through the pond’s reflected day
to where the fishes move.
Rainer Maria Rilke, Book of Images
For Rilke in this poem, as for me, the flowing river, birds, oak trees, ponds and fish are all mediums of nature through which he is able to listen to his life. And what does he hear? His timid soul finds itself more trustful of mystery, of what cannot be named. And he hears that everything belongs together, and that he himself is connected and rooted to all of life; that he belongs. These are essential messages for me to hear! I find that this poem challenges me to pay attention to my own inner murmuring and humming and the imbedded messages nature has for me.
Questions to ponder after reading the poem:
- What inner murmurings are growing stronger in you?
- How would you describe your connection to nature?
Fortschritt
Und wieder rauscht mein tiefes Leben lauter,
als ob es jetzt in breitern Ufern ginge.
Immer verwandter werden mir die Dinge
und alle Bilder immer angeschauter.
Dem Namenlosen fühl ich mich vertrauter:
mit meinen Sinnen, wie mit Vögeln, reiche
ich in die windigen Himmel aus der Eiche,
und in den abgebrochnen Tag der Teiche
sinkt, wie auf Fischen stehend, mein Gefühl.
Rilke, Das Buch der Bilder (original translation)
Robert, Nov 2020
A Year with Rilke: Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke. Copyright © 2009 by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. ISBN 978-0-06-198695-6
Photo by Richard Burlton on Unsplash
5 Comments
Submit a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Recent Posts
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
The Korean writer Hwang Bo-Reum has previously written several essay collections. This is her first novel. The book’s protagonist Yeongju did everything she was supposed to do: Go to university, marry a decent man, get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. Burned out, she abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career and starts to follow her dream. She opens a bookshop.
The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin
The Music of Bees, debut novel by Eileen Garvin, is a thoughtful, life-affirming story that invites the reader to consider the healing power of community. It is present day rural Oregon; a region dotted with fruit farms as well as other agricultural endeavors.
Films with a Common Theme: Difficulty in Close Relationships
The past week I happened to see three 2025 films that had in common the theme of pains and deficits in close relationships…
This picture of growth feels very authentic to me, and much more substantial than the shallow forms of “success” usually lauded in this world.
In our fractured world where the only thing people relate to is their “tribe,” I appreciate Rilke’s words of harmony an unity. Deeply saddened by what is happening to democracy in the US, I took a long hike along a nearby lake. Being in nature gave me the sensation of connecting to something bigger that eased the sadness and gave the positive energy necessary to get out of my funk I am quite sure my mind is not as free as Rilke describes but glimmers of hope filtered back on that day.
Connection to our world; to beauty and wildness.
Raising like a bird, sinking through the pond.
Let us allow ourselves to become enrapt with nature
Let it speak to our hearts and minds.
What a stirring poem, inviting us into an inspiring depth!! Love your reflections, Bob. I find that listening to and watching my little grandsons becomes a conduit for me to enter the special space that this poem alludes to, Little children are often amazed with “simple things” that I have already taken for granted. One time my grandson when 2 1/2 asked me to sit down with him to watch ants he had discovered. Together we observed them for several minutes as they bustled about. I have never forgotten the wonder of it for both of us.
‘Things grow ever more related to me’ – what a great expression of growing presence , peace and freedom to allow things to enter into us. So much richness stays outside and beyond because we don’t find the inner rest and freedom to receive!