Page:Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (1918).djvu/97

 The Book of a Monk's Life

I live my life in circles that grow wide

And endlessly unroll,

I may not reach the last, but on I glide

Strong pinioned toward my goal.

About the old tower, dark against the sky,

The beat of my wings hums,

I circle about God, sweep far and high

On through milleniums.

Am I a bird that skims the clouds along,

Or am I a wild storm, or a great song?

53