Top 100 Poems -- The Island III by Rainer Maria Rilke

The Island I, II, III - a series of introspective poems by the great Rilke, have been a real pleasure to pass on...

Here is the third. You know, these poems lend themselves to strong personal feelings. Feel free to comment below, I'd love to get some input on these...

ThomasThe Island (III)

By Rainer Maria Rilke

Only what is within you is near; all else is far.
And this within: so packed and pressured,
barely contained, unsayable.
The island could be a star so insignificant

that space in its terrible blindness takes no note
and mindlessly destroys it.
Thus, unillumined and unheard,
expecting nothing

but that all this may yet come to an end,
it continues doggedly its self-invented course,
alone, outside the patterns made
by planets and the suns they orbit.
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