The Mountain, by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Susan McLean

Snowy Morning at Koishikawa, by Katsushika Hokusai (Japan) 1831

The Mountain

Thirty-six and then a hundred times
the printmaker inscribed that mountain, torn
away and always driven back again
(thirty-six and then a hundred times)

to the inscrutable volcano, blissful,
full of seductiveness and reticence--
while it, in the apparel of its profile, 
did not hold back its own magnificence:

bursting forth a thousand times each day,
allowing each uniquely different night
to fall away, as if all were too tight, 
consuming every image straightaway,
improving on itself from shape to shape,
detached, remote, and taking no position--
at once turned knowing, like an apparition,
and rising into view through every gap.

Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Susan McLean

Der Berg

Sechsunddreißig Mal und hundert Mal 
hat der Maler jenen Berg geschrieben, 
weggerissen, wieder hingetrieben 
(sechsunddreißig Mal und hundert Mal) 

zu dem unbegreiflichen Vulkane, 
selig, voll Versuchung, ohne Rat, - 
während der mit Umriss Angetane 
seiner Herrlichkeit nicht Einhalt tat: 

tausendmal aus allen Tagen tauchend, 
Nächte ohne gleichen von sich ab 
fallen lassend, alle wie zu knapp; 
jedes Bild im Augenblick verbrauchend, 
von Gestalt gesteigert zu Gestalt, 
teilnahmslos und weit und ohne Meinung -, 
um auf einmal wissend, wie Erscheinung, 
sich zu heben hinter jedem Spalt. 

Rainer Maria Rilke

Literal translation:
The Mountain

Thirty-six times and a hundred times
the artist inscribed that mountain,
torn away, driven back again
(thirty-six times and a hundred times)

to the unknowable volcano,
beatific, full of temptation, without advice--
while it, clothed in its outline,
kept back nothing of its magnificence:

emerging a thousand times every day,
allowing nights without equal to fall
away from it, as if all were too tight;
consuming each image in the blink of an eye,
improving from shape to shape,
indifferent and distant and without opinion--
only to become knowing suddenly, like an apparition,
raising itself up behind every gap.

Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Susan McLean

Susan McLean has published translations of Latin, French, and German poetry in Arion, Transference, Subtropics, and elsewhere. Her book of translations of the Latin poet Martial, Selected Epigrams (U. of Wisconsin P, 2014), was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Translation Award.  Her own books of poetry include The Best Disguise and The Whetstone Misses the Knife.

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was born in Prague, but lived all over Europe.  His German poems are known for their lyricism.  He worked for a while as Auguste Rodin’s secretary and was much influenced by artists and works of art that he saw.