PoemExposed on the cliffs of the heart
Author / PoetRainer Maria Rilke

Exposed on the cliffs of the heart. Look, how tiny down there,
look: the last village of words and, higher,
(but how tiny) still one last
farmhouse of feeling. Can you see it?
Exposed on the cliffs of the heart. Stoneground
under your hands. Even here, though,
something can bloom; on a silent cliff-edge
an unknowing plant blooms, singing, into the air.
But the one who knows? Ah, he began to know
and is quiet now, exposed on the cliffs of the heart.
While, with their full awareness,
many sure-footed mountain animals pass
or linger. And the great sheltered birds flies, slowly
circling, around the peak’s pure denial. – But
without a shelter, here on the cliffs of the heart…

Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke
4 Dec 1875 - 29 Dec 1926
Movement: Modernism

more poems by Rainer Maria Rilke

Poem NameTopic
A SybilCave, Hollow
Autumn DayAutumn, Summer
A WalkHill, Love
Before Summer RainNature
Extinguish Thou My EyesBond, Nature, Spirit
Early SpringNature
Going BlindAcceptance, Blind, Loss
God Speaks To Each Of UsExperience, Joyful, Painful
FalconryPrince, Responsibility
Behind The Blameless TreesImaginary, Tree, Warning

all poems by Rainer Maria Rilke

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