In April
In April - context Summary
Published in Das Buch Der Bilder
Written and published in 1902, "In April" appears in Rilke’s early collection Das Buch der Bilder. The poem belongs to his formative period and uses spring imagery and quiet domestic scenes to evoke renewal after rain. Knowing its placement in this 1902 volume helps readers situate its tone and concerns within Rilke’s early work rather than his later, more introspective phases.
Read Complete AnalysesAgain the woods are odorous, the lark Lifts on upsoaring wings the heaven gray That hung above the tree-tops, veiled and dark, Where branches bare disclosed the empty day. After long rainy afternoons an hour Comes with its shafts of golden light and flings Them at the windows in a radiant shower, And rain drops beat the panes like timorous wings. Then all is still. The stones are crooned to sleep By the soft sound of rain that slowly dies; And cradled in the branches, hidden deep In each bright bud, a slumbering silence lies.
Translated by Jessie Lamont
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