“Autumn” by Rainer Maria Rilke
The leaves are falling, falling as from afar,
as though above were withering farthest gardens;
they fall with denying gestures.
And night by night, down into solitude,
the heavy earth falls far from every star.
We are all falling. This hand’s falling too—
all have this falling-sickness none withstands.
And yet there is One whose gently-holding hands
this universal falling can’t fall through.
~Rainer Maria Rilke
*Note on pronunciation: Rilke = “RILL-kuh” not “RILL-kee”
