New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Culture
28 August 2019

from Les Roses

A new poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Paul Batchelor. 

By trans. Paul Batchelor

Familiar rose,
so implicated in our memories
as in a dream
where you advance upon your perfect form –

whose silence surpasses the choir’s
echo;
who triumphs in the rose window
or, held between two lovers, disappears.

Paul Batchelor is the author of “The Sinking Road” (Bloodaxe)

Content from our partners
Building Britain’s water security
How to solve the teaching crisis
Pitching in to support grassroots football

Give a gift subscription to the New Statesman this Christmas from just £49