Rainer Maria Rilke Translation "Autumn Day"

Autumn Day

by Rainer Maria Rilke

loose translation by Michael R. Burch

 

Lord, it is time. Let the immense summer go.

Lay your long shadows over the sundials

and over the meadows, let the free winds blow.

Command the late fruits to fatten and shine;

O, grant them another Mediterranean hour!

Urge them to completion, and with power

convey final sweetness to the heavy wine.

Who has no house now, never will build one.

Who's alone now, shall continue alone;

he'll wake, read, write long letters to friends,

and pace the tree-lined pathways up and down,

restlessly, as autumn leaves drift and descend.

 

Originally published by Measure