Songs of Roses

Les Chansons Des Roses

It is we, perhaps, who proposed
that you replenish your bloom
Enchanted by this charade,
your abundance dared.

You were rich enough to fulfill
Yourself a hundred times over in a single flower,
Such is the state of one who loves...
But you never did think otherwise.

Against whom, rose, have you assumed these thorns?
Is it your too fragile joy that force you to become this armed thing?
But from whom does it protect you, this exaggerated defense?

How many enemies have I lifted from you
Who did not hear it at all.
On the contrary, from summer to autumn
You wound the affection that is given to you.
Overflowing with your dream, flower filled with flowers,

Wet as one who weeps, you bow to the morning.
Your sweet powers which still are sleeping in misty desire,
Unfold these tender forms joining cheeks and breasts.

I have such awareness of your being, perfect rose,
That my will unites you with my heart in celebration.
I breathe you in, rose, as if you were all of life,
And I feel the perfect friend of a perfect friend.

Abandon surrounding abandon, tenderness touching tenderness..
Your oneness endlessly caresses itself, so they say;
Self-caressing through its own clear reflection
Thus you invent the theme of Narcissus fulfilled.
~ Rainier Maria Rilke


(Barbara Streisand tea roses from my garden)