what a send off for those enroute to Paris and those who have found sanctuary there, poets, artists , sculptors, travelers all the same... passports in hand...
I returned from Paris just a few days ago. To sit back now and contemplate about the depth of the city is very fascinating to me. Without calling it good or bad, it’s definitely a city full of depth and stories!
Love the “cruelty of its streets and the monstrosity of its people,” quote. I try not to judge Parisians too harshly. They have a lot to be proud of and no doubt they get so sick of tourists. However, the same could be said of Athens, and the people there are kind and gracious… loved this post. Rainer Maria Rilke sounds like my kind of guy.
Used in the movie “Awakenings”. Leonard (Robert DeNiro)spelling out Rilke on Ouija board, leads Dr. Sacks to library discovering the poem “Panther” and helping communicate how Leonard is trapped inside by the disease Encephalitis lethargica from early 20th century
This poem, an internal monologue, seems to be a carefully thought out observation with its inclusion of many commas surrounding dependent clauses much as Rilke likely depended on Paris for Rodin but yet within it islands for himself.
what a send off for those enroute to Paris and those who have found sanctuary there, poets, artists , sculptors, travelers all the same... passports in hand...
I returned from Paris just a few days ago. To sit back now and contemplate about the depth of the city is very fascinating to me. Without calling it good or bad, it’s definitely a city full of depth and stories!
Thanks for your comments.. hope to visit soon
Rilke and Paris. Love this. Somehow I had missed this story and poem.
Same here!
Love the “cruelty of its streets and the monstrosity of its people,” quote. I try not to judge Parisians too harshly. They have a lot to be proud of and no doubt they get so sick of tourists. However, the same could be said of Athens, and the people there are kind and gracious… loved this post. Rainer Maria Rilke sounds like my kind of guy.
Used in the movie “Awakenings”. Leonard (Robert DeNiro)spelling out Rilke on Ouija board, leads Dr. Sacks to library discovering the poem “Panther” and helping communicate how Leonard is trapped inside by the disease Encephalitis lethargica from early 20th century
Here's the oringina Der Panther in German:
Sein Blick ist vom Vorübergehn der Stäbe
so müd geworden, daß er nichts mehr hält.
Ihm ist, als ob es tausend Stäbe gäbe
und hinter tausend Stäben keine Welt.
Der weiche Gang geschmeidig starker Schritte,
der sich im allerkleinsten Kreise dreht,
ist wie ein Tanz von Kraft um eine Mitte,
in der betäubt ein großer Wille steht.
Nur manchmal schiebt der Vorhang der Pupille
sich lautlos auf -. Dann geht ein Bild hinein,
geht durch der Glieder angespannte Stille -
und hört im Herzen auf zu sein.
This poem, an internal monologue, seems to be a carefully thought out observation with its inclusion of many commas surrounding dependent clauses much as Rilke likely depended on Paris for Rodin but yet within it islands for himself.
cruelty of its streets and the monstrosity of its people."
Thanks for the article. I just bought Writers in Paris.
Excellent. Lucid, touching--and helpful. Gary Michael Dault
If you want an updated wild Paris experience: https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/paris-is-not-paradise
Rainer Maria Rilke always much admired for his sainted lyricism. davpi3.14