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Luke C. Conley

Mr. Tlumack

Honors 10 English 4Y

9/24/17

Rilke’s Memoir on the Power of Intimacy

Time and time again, artists of literacy find themselves exploring the realm of

human emotion. Feelings are a common subject to literature, and art in general, as the majority

of the population can relate to either the stress or joy radiated from emotions. One such poet

who returned multiple times to that realm was named Rainer Maria Rilke, a German Poet of the

early 1900’s. With his piece Time and Again, Rilke assesses the willpower of love through

extremely harsh times and its ability to negate the fact that everything and everyone is dying.

When one first thinks of love and romance, they usually associate it with excitement and

a pulsing wave of happiness. However Rilke describes, with imagery, that death is an ever-

present factor in daily life when he states, “and the little church-yard with lamenting names / and

the frightfully silent ravine” (Rilke 2-3). With a detailed description of the darkness of the world,

Rilke highlights its importance and closeness to everyday life. The in-depth imagery also

conveys that human nature can perceive and understand what death and decay looks like

signalling death’s impact on human culture.

Typically, death is feared by the majority of the population, and is viewed as something

to be ignored if one wishes to be happy. But, again, Rilke goes against the flow of social

acceptance, and uses realism to express the power and reality of decay when he says, “ …

however well we know… / … the little church-yard with lamenting names” (Rilke 1-2). Rilke

expresses the couple’s knowledge of death, as well as their acceptance. The comprehension of
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negative views by the couple heavily conveys their realistic approach to the world, as well as

their refusal to deny death exists.

In modern pop-culture, love and positive emotions are usually seen as a powerful force

that can conquer all evil, and Rilke agrees with this. With a cliché approach on the abilities of

human emotion, Rilke shows that understanding darkness can be matched and overcome with

romantic love, “Time and again, however well we know… / the little church-yard with lamenting

names… / … we go out two together” (Rilke 1-4). Rilke reveals to the reader that the couple has

a cliché approach to death in the very beginning by showing that the couple understands it, and

then immediately shows that that even with that knowledge the couple stays together in peace

and love. The sudden turnaround from darkness to the couple’s harmony solidifies the impact of

positive emotions in difficult times.

Artists find themselves using many different elements to convey their viewpoint on the

real world and Rilke’s expression of emotion and its abilities through poetry, although short, was

able to directly analyze and portray the powers of love. As a poet, he was skilled in his work and

offered many ideas about life to the people of his era. With imagery, the idea of realism, and

literary clichés, Rilke was able to give a meaningful message about darkness and its weakness to

sentiment very well.

Works Cited Page

Rilke, Rainer M. Time and Again. September 23, 2017. Print.