VARIATION AND REFLECTION ON A THEME BY RILKE

web | The Sun Is but a Morning Star

A certain day became a presence to me;
there it was, confronting me a sky, air, light:
a being. And before it started to descend
from the height of noon, it leaned over
and struck my shoulder as if with
the flat of a sword, granting me
honor and a task. The day's blow
rang out, metallic or it was I, a bell awakened,
and what I heard was my whole self
saying and singing what it knew: I can.

1971

© Denise Levertov
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© E-publisher LiterNet, 29.05.2010
The Sun Is but a Morning Star. Anthology of American Literature. Edited by Albena Bakratcheva. Varna: LiterNet, 2008-2010.