I am much too alone in this world, yet not alone
enough to truly consecrate the hour.
I am much too small in this world, yet not small
enoughto be to you just object and thing, dark and smart.
I want my free will and want it accompanying
the path which leads to action;
and want during times that beg questions,
where something is up, to be among those in the know,
or else be alone.

I want to mirror your image to its fullest perfection,
never be blind or too old
to uphold your weighty wavering reflection.
I want to unfold.
Nowhere I wish to stay crooked, bent;
for there I would be dishonest, untrue.
I want my conscience to be true
before you;
want to describe myself like a picture I observed
for a long time, one close up,
like a new word I learned and embraced,
like the everday jug,
like my mother's face,
like a ship that carried me along
through the deadliest storm.

Rainer Maria Rilke
from "I Am Much Too Alone In This World, Yet Not Alone"

Translated by Annemarie S. Kidder
English translation, translator's introduction, and translator's notes copyright © 2001 by Annemarie S. Kidder. Published 2001. All rights reserved.