Park benches with fallen leaves, photographed in the Parc Monçeau, Paris, France, in the autumn of 1981.

By Rainer Maria Rilke
Translated by Jonathan Steffen

Lord: it is time. This summer has been vast.
Lay now your shadow on the sundial’s face,
and let the meadows feel the winter’s blast.

Command the last fruits to their waited prime;
give them just two more days of southern sun,
force them to full maturity and run
the last sweet drops into the heavy vine.

Whoever has no house will not build now.
Whoever is alone will long stay so,
spend bookish nights, write letters in a row
and wander aimlessly the avenues
alone, as this year’s leaves around him blow.

This translation first published in Orbis International Poetry Magazine, Summer/Autumn 1993

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