Madness

by Rilke (translated by C.F. MacIntyre)

SHE must ever brood: I am ... I am ...
Who are you then, Marie?

I am a queen! I am a queen!

On your knee there! On your knee!

She must ever weep: I was ... I was ...
Who were you then, Marie?
A no one's child--I can't say how--
but alone, in poverty.

And how could such a child become
a princess to whom one kneels?
Because all things are different now
from what a beggar feels.

So, things have raised you to such heights,
but you can't tell how or when?
One night, one night, all in one night,
they changed towards me then.
I walked in the street and suddenly
it was stretched with trembling strings.
Marie became melody, melody ...
and danced to their musicking.
The people cowered fearfully,
as if rooted by their feet.
It's only a queen who dares to dance,
yes, dance in a city street!


we are dancers. we are queens.