This site takes its inspiration from the beautiful poem titled “Let this Darkness be a Bell Tower” by the Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke. His writings include one novel, several collections of poetry and several volumes of correspondence in which he invokes haunting images that focus on the difficulty of communion with the inexpressible, solitude, and profound anxiety.
Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
“Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29
