[XVII] from Sonnets to Orpheus

Original by Rainer Maria Rilke
Adapted, after the German, by Nico Peck

The song
spire spins
itself in time
into a branch
we climb.

Entangled limbs
urge rage

and release,
hunted and slit

open, spread
earth-bound

downtrodden
clambered
undermost
tongue edifice
root crevice.

The old words
find a grip
and from 
your throat
they rise.

[XVII]

Zu unterst der Alte, verworrn, 
all der Erbauten 
Wurzel, verborgener Born, 
den sie nie schauten. 

Sturmhelm und Jagerhorn, 
Spruch von Ergrauten, 

Manner im Bruderzom, 

Frauen wie Lauten. . . 

Drangender Zweig an Zweig, 
nirgends ein freier. . . 

Einer! o steig. . . o steig. . . 

Aber sie brechen noch. 

Dieser erst oben doch 
biegt sich zur Leier.

Rainer Maria Rilke was born in Prague in 1875. Although his first poems were published when he was just 20 years old, he would go on to write The Duino Elegies, Sonnets to Orpheus, and Letters to a Young Poet, among other important works. His writing continues to be widely read and translated to this day.

Nico Peck is a writer, artist, and teacher. Their poetry can be found online in The Pink Mag, The Braided Way, and Eleven Eleven, among others. They live in San Francisco.