"Variations on a Theme by Rilke"
- from the DARE TO BE POWERFUL choral series -
An ode to the power of "I can", Denise Levertov's poem pays homage to a poem by Ranier M. Rilke (1875-1926) by invoking the stirring imagery from Rilke's poem and further exploring and personalizing the notion of "vocation" .
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.
- from the DARE TO BE POWERFUL choral series -
An ode to the power of "I can", Denise Levertov's poem pays homage to a poem by Ranier M. Rilke (1875-1926) by invoking the stirring imagery from Rilke's poem and further exploring and personalizing the notion of "vocation" .