Page:Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (1918).djvu/59

 INITIATION

Whosoever thou art! Out in the evening roam,

Out from thy room thou know'st in every part,

And far in the dim distance leave thy home,

Whosoever thou art.

Lift thine eyes which lingering see

The shadows on the foot-worn threshold fall,

Lift thine eyes slowly to the great dark tree

That stands against heaven, solitary, tall,

And thou hast visioned Life, its meanings rise

Like words that in the silence clearer grow;

As they unfold before thy will to know

Gently withdraw thine eyes— 15