After Rainer Maria Rilke's "Liebeslied";<br></br>see my translation <a href="https://seanpatrick.phd/2024/02/10/a-translation-of-rilkes-love-song/">here</a>.<br></br><br></br><br></br>How many love songs will my heartstrings play<br></br><br></br>before they will be muted by my death?<br></br><br></br>How many times will I those three words say<br></br><br></br>with passion-tightened chest and bated breath?<br></br><br></br><br></br>Someday, I know, I will find my last love<br></br><br></br>and kiss their lips as fully as I can<br></br><br></br>while I make my appeal to God above<br></br><br></br>to keep me longer in the world of man,<br></br><br></br>just long enough to keep the player’s bow<br></br><br></br>pressed to the strings on which our hearts resound.<br></br><br></br><br></br>There are so many different loves to know<br></br><br></br>before the end, and beauty’s notes abound!<br></br><br></br><br></br>Let me remain with them on Earth, O Lord,<br></br><br></br>‘til our love’s song can sing its final chord.<br></br><br></br>
