The South Central Modern Language Association

The Role of the Paradox in Rilke's "Sonette" Author(s): Elaine E. Boney Source: The South Central Bulletin, Vol. 22, No. 4, Studies by Members of S-CMLA (Winter, 1962), pp. 19-23 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of The South Central Modern Language
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The Role of the in RILIKE'S

PARADOX
ELAINE E. BONEY

The Sonette an Orpheus are closely relatedto the later DuineserElegien in mood and conception. But whereasthe Elegies grewfrom manyyearsof development in Rilke's thoughtand mirror the consistent evolutionof the concept of Being in the entire cycle, the Sonnets are the resultof a few days of intensivework and reflectprimarily the concludingresultsreached in the Eleof the gies. Althoughthe arrangement entirecollection of Sonnetsis much less strict thanthatof the Elegies,the structure of each poem is verytight, partly because of the sonnetform. This form, with its terse divisioninto octet and suitedto the parasestet,is particularly doxical natureof the material presented within the individual sonnets of thiscollection. A paradoxis defined in Webster's New International Dictionary as "any phenomenon or action with seemingly contradictoryqualities or phases." The American adds to this CollegeDictionary definition the elementof truth in definor proing the paradoxas "a statement or positionseemingly self-contradictory absurd,and yet explicableas expressing a truth." In the Philosophical Fragments, which is devoted to the paradoxesof Christianity, Kierkegaardstates that a paradox is the collisionof the known and the unknown, the unknownbeing that which is absolutelydifferent from the known.'Since the knownis a function of reason and knowledgeand the unknownis related to man by belief, a conflict between elementsof reason and belief are likewise involved in a paradox. All of these elements, the apparent the known and the uncontradiction, known,and reasonand belief,are to be found in the paradoxesof Rilke's Sonnets.The central paradoxmay be stated as the age-old one of the finite and inwiththe relatedones of timeand finite,

"SON ETTE"
the tembeing and becoming, eternity, poral and the absolute,life and death. The central of the Sonnets, and problem indeed of all of Rilke's later thought, deals withthe natureof the cosmosand of man and withtherelationship between cosmosand man,or between"Sein" and "Dasein." Since man's view of the cosmos changeswith the factors whichhis view encompasses, these views may appear paradoxical.When human life is viewed in and by itself, it appears devoid of value because of its limitations, especially the ultimateone of death. Yet whenit is viewedas partof a meaningfulwhole-whichman can only surmise,but nevercomprehend-it suddenly acquires value. These two evaluations, whichexcludeand yet complement each mustnecessarily cause life to apother, pear paradoxical to man, who cannot stand aside fromhis involvement in it, and is unable to sublimatethem into a comprehensive whole. Life is thus a paradox to man, and it is this paradox which is inherent in the formand content of the Sonnets. Man is not like Orpheus.Man is limited and out of harmony withtotalBeing, fromwhich he feels separatedbecause he cannotcomprehend it: "Sein Sinn ist Zwiespalt."' Man can only surmisethe in which he lives. He is always totality surrounded by a horizonwhichmay retreator close in upon himin accordwith his relationship to transcendence. For a livinghumanbeing thishorizon never vanishesexcept in momentary transcendence of the Self. Although man may

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speak of total Being, it remainsoutside his realm of factual knowledge,unattainableby reason.' The life-deathpolaritymakes death Such limitation. seem final,the ultimate causes life to end in apparent finality and this end is symbolized nothingness, a futile attemptto by the tombstone, afterthe end preservepersonalidentity of life: Lasstdie Denkstein. keinen Errichtet Rose nur jedes Jahr zu seinen Gunsten bliihn. Denn Orpheusists. Seine Metamorphose in dem und dem (G. W., III, 317) The contrasting Orphic symbol of the rose pointsnot to a finalend, but to a The Self, like the rose, metamorphosis. is not lost in death; it merelychanges in a final and absoluteact of transcendence. are inevitable In life griefand sorrow because of nature of man's components In recognizing its inherentlimitations. as a part of his verynatheirnecessity themto praise tureand yettranscending and valuable, man life as meaningful as a true existence.Like Orfunctions humanbeing, pheus,onlythe individual to in relation despitehis frailty standing can truly capture the transcendence, of life: significance Nur wer die Leier schonhob auch unterSchatten, Lob darfdas unendliche ahnend erstatten.

withmusic.Orpheus ringing miraculously in love, thustranscended reality physical death, and song. Orphic song reaches of the sensesand beyondthe limitations physicalrealityto touch upon the essence of existence. of man's immanent As a combination and pure or absoluteBeing, Orreality pheus is beyond the limits of human Rilke'sOrpheusis a symbol, perception. not a figurewhich man can perceive not even by the mostprodigious flights The whole, represented of imagination. surrounds man; it can never by Orpheus, become an objector image forhim. Althougha mortal,subject to the limitahumanbeing,Ortions of the ordinary to createan the ability possesses pheus reachaoticexternal innerabsolutefrom in direct him this and places ability lity, Unlikeorto transcendence. relationship worlds in the two stands he man dinary and transcendent of immanent reality formtotal Being: which together Ist er ein Hiesiger? Nein,aus beiden seine weite Natur. Reichenerwuchs

of which man The Orphic totality, may be aware and into which he may loss or destruction without be integrated of the Self, appears in many symbolic guises in the Sonnets.The hearing or listening("H6ren") of the firstSonnet in this manner.Such listening functions of the soundwaves is not the perception but of of the worldof physicalreality, silenceof the heart ("Verschweigung"), or pure Being lies. Such whereexistence essence is perceivedby the human ear of existence-asa relaas the beginning betweenman and the absolute. (G. W.,III,321) tionship communicaOn the level of existential In the figureof Orpheus the paration the human ear shouldbe tuned to doxes which exist for mortalman are of Orphic silence in the wave-length resolved because, in his searchforEurythe mere world of transcend to order border the transcended dice, Orpheus sound. Man's sensoryworld is disharbebetweenlife and death and thereby between submoniousin its dichotomy came familiarwith both realms. This is also seen in another ject and object: "Uns wird nur das double character angeboten"(G. W., III, 359). Ldirmen portionof the Orpheus legend, which sonnet Man seeks knowledgeof the tangible Rilke uses in his twenty-sixth world: "denn wir wollen wissen" (G. of Orpheus' of the first cycle-the story with the death. Afterhis death and dismember- W., III. 359), but harmony world of the absolute eludes intangible Bacchic mentat the hands of infuriated of him. He reachescompleteattainment women,his head and lyrefloateddown such harmony only in death, with reto theislandof Lesbos, Herbrus theriver
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(G.W.,III,318)

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lease of the innerabsoluteinto cosmic Being: Nur der Tote trinkt aus derhiervon unsgehirten Quelle wenn der Gott ihm schweigend dem Toten. winkt, (G. W., III, 359) The paradoxical relationshipbetween timeand eternity and sound and silence receives additionaltreatment in a later poem, "Gong": Dauer, aus Ablaufgepresst, Stern . : Gongl' um-gegossener In this poem man is pictured as the gong, whose sound is perceived by a greaterear, that of total Being. This for the cosimplies man's significance mos. If he producedonly sound waves, they would be lost for the ear of the but he producesin his inner universe, Being an absolute perceptiblein the whole: Nichtmehrfiir Ohren . .: Klang, der,wie ein tieferes Ohr, uns, scheinbar H6rende,hart. Umkehrder Riume. Entwurf innerer Weltenim Frein . . Only the song of the true artistsuch as Orpheus,by whichthe wall of man's limitations can be breachedin transcending the Self and thusattaining harmony withpureBeing,of whichman is a vital part,can heal and unitea disharmonious world: Einzig das Lied iibermLand heiligtund feiert. (G. W., III, 331) transforOrpheus' task of proclaiming mationof the Self preparesman for a world and a cosmoswhere change prevails. Whereasmortal men fail to recognize thepositive aspectsof absolutelimitationin suffering, love, and death,Orpheus must reveal in these aspects of life the ultimate basis of existence. The ordinaryperson in his senseless,purposeless life seeks knowledge of the worldabout him: "Schreienden Zufall" (G. W., III, 371). In the raucous disof his uncoordinated searchhe harmony remainsalmost totallyoblivious to the higherdemandsof the spirit-therealizationthatall of life is meaningless unless correlated with the absolute.Rilke

appeals to Orpheusto interfere creatively in man's senselessnoise, to reduce him to the silencewhereexistence begins,to make him receptiveto Orphic song, to the Absolute: Ordnedie Schreier, singenderGott! dass sie rauschend erwachen, tragend als Stromungdas Haupt und die Leier. (G. W., III, 371) Like Orpheus, growing plants and trees signify the presenceof forcesbeyond the physicalworld.Flowers,fruit, and grapesperisheach year,but appear again the following year. They do not vanish completely;transcendent forces changebut do not destroy them: Wir gehen um mit Blume, Weinblatt,Frucht. Sie sprechen nichtdie Sprache nur des Jahres. Aus Dunkel steigt ein buntesOffenbares Each fruit and flower is-like Orpheusa combination of life and death. It is a paradoxicalunit of specific, unique life and of recurring of the bounty existence; of the earth and inevitableripeningto the end. This is the essence of the apple whicheach personshouldexperience and express: "Wagt zu sagen, was ihr Apfelnennt"(G. W., III, 325). In nature, as in the figure of Orpheus, the paradoxes whichastoundman are resolved.Unconscious of changeand death, the earthpasses through fall and winter, forspring in eternalmetamorpreparing phosis.In earlyspringthe awakening of life is feltin the air. To man it appears new each time,and each time it gives to man in spite of his inbountifully completeness.Althoughwinter is still presentin this early spring,reminding man that death is everpresent in life, spring arrives unfailingly, overcoming winter'sdormancy: Jenesso oft dir schon Gekommenescheint dir zu kommen wiederwie Neues. Immererhofft, nahmstdu es niemals.Es hat dich genommen. (G. W., III, 370)

(G. W.,III, 326)

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Even when the barriersof time and from man, space conceal ultimate reality and he cannot comprehend the significance of his situation and as a changing seeminglyuseless atom in the eternal cosmos, the world continuesto fulfill his needs. It does not abandon him to the physical limitations which he exso painfully: periences Selbst wenn sich der Bauer sorgt und handelt, wo die Saat in Sommersich verwandelt, Wir Gewaltsamen, wir wiihren schenkt. ( G. W., III, 324) The earth constantlypresents man with indications of the function of an eterwithin changeas metamorphosis nal whole ratherthan as final termination of life. In particular, plants-each one grown to completion-havebeen selected by Rilke as symbolsof exisanemone speaks tence. The short-lived to eternalBeing of completereceptivity as it opens its petals wide to the light of the heavens. But for man such free to absolute Being and open receptivity comes only with difficulty: Wir Gewaltsamen, wir wiihren linger. Aberwann,in welchemallerLeben, sind wir endlichoffen und Empffinger? (G. W., III, 345) In the seventhSonnet of the second whichhave been pluckcycletheflowers ed are compared to the maidens who and the pluckedthem-boththe flowers maidens will die, althoughthe flowers water will placed in vase and reviving of bloomand beaushed a finalsplendor are like the maidens ty. As the flowers in their inevitable death, the maidens that in finding mustbe like the flowers rather than death is a metamorphosis an absoluteend. Flowing water is, like nature,a symof the paradoxin bol forthe resolution it is at the same timeconstantly totality; the same. In a changingand constantly the bowl is like an ear listenfountain message ing in its sleep to the timeless

of the earth-that death is only a phase in eternalmetamorphosis: du du gebender, O Brunnen-Mund, Mund, der unersch6pflich Eines, Reines spricht,ist das schlafend Dies (das Geffiss) Ohr, hingelegte in das du immer das Marmor-Ohr, sprichst. (G. W., III, 358) of wateris The jug filledby the stream temporary nothingbut an interruption, withthe everand man-made, compared flowof the water.But bountiful lasting, and generthe waterfillsthe jug freely ously, givingof its richesto man, just as the earthdoes. creative. Like nature,man is innately he not only createslifeIn breathing of breathdeathis marked by a cessation exising-but also partakesof universal The air of the tence, "Weltinnenraum." intopart is transformed "Weltinnenraum" of the individual,and many places of have been within the "Weltinnenraum" the individual.Breathing is rhythinic and harmonious;through its creative to the forceman stands in relationship cosmos and bringspure Being into his life: measured Gedicht! Atmen,du unsichtbares Immerfort um das eigne Weltraum. Sein rein eingetauschter Gegenwicht, in dem ich michrhythmisch ereigne. (G. W., III, 341) Man, like Orpheus, is by nature of both worlds,even thoughhe may have and sepof isolation developeda feeling aration fromthe completely different worldof the absolute. A static conditionnever creates; for actionand change creativeproductivity, desirare required.Change is therefore of condition able since it is a primary life and basic part of man's role in the which is his schemeof creative activity, very raison d'Atre.To look for perworldis to seek manencein a changing but in the processof certain destruction, eternalchangethe end, insteadof being a new marksin metamorphosis absolute, beginning:

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(G. W.,III,356) NOTES Orpheus symbolizesthe ever-creative 1Soeren Kierkegaard, Philosophical Frag. trans. David F. Swens'on (Princeton of existence, principle havingundergone ments, University Press, 1946), pp. 31 f. themetamorphosis of death.His function 2Rainer Maria Rilke, Gesammelte Werke (Leipzig, Insel-Verlag, 1930), Vol. III, 315. is pointing out the natureof man'slimitSubsequent references to this edition will be ed Being, "Dasein," as a segment of given with the quotation and abbreviated G. W. total Being, "Sein." For Orpheus the 8Karl Jaspers, Philosophie, 2nd ed. (Berlin, two conceptsexist in perfect harmony; Springer, 1948), pp. 709 f. forman theirrelationship 4Rainer Maria Rilke, Gedichte, 1906-1925 is one of ten(Wiesbaden. Insel-Verlag, 1953), p. 187. sion, of discord. Orpheus embodiesin 5lbid., p. 187.

Wolle die Wandlung.0 sei fiirdie Flamme begeistert, drinsich ein Ding dir entzieht, das mit Verwandlungen prunkt; das Geist,welcher jenerentwerfende Irdischemeistert, liebt in dem Schwung der Figur nichts wie den wendenden Punkt. (G. W., III, 354) As part of a cosmic unitychangeitself is eternal.As in all change,the truest mode of existence is not in the before and the after, but in the very moment the moment when the beof transition, foreand the aftertouch in an absolute. In Rilke thisacute experience of change leads to an awarenessof the coming, an ever-awake state of anticipation, whereinthe Self sensesthe infinite universe of which it is a harmonious part: Sei-und wisse zugleich des NichtSeins Bedingung, den unendlichen Grund deiner innigenSchwingung, dieses eindass du vIllig vollziehst zige Mal. Zu de gebrauchtensowohl, wie zummdumpfen und stummen Vorrat der vollen Natur, den unsliglichen Summen, dich jubelnd hinzu und verzUihle nichtedie Zahl.

himself theunity whichmancan envisage only as a paradox,but which he must seek to understand and expressas the verybasis of human life. These Sonnetsare concerned withthe paradoxicalnatureof human life, with the paradoxfrequently in the expressed sonnetform itself. The octetmayexpress the idea of man's limitations-in time, space, and death-whereas the sestet shows the obverseside of the problemthe significance of theselimitations when within human theyare viewed,not from life alone, but as part of an encomis not passing whole. Totality, however, its very static, but dynamic,gathering fromthe changes which occur eternity within it. Change,whichappearsto man as an expression of his painful primarily thus becomes the great intransience, centiveforhim to lifthis visionbeyond to transcend and thus himself, himself, to enrich his life with the dynamic, creativeforceswhich are the very essence of the cosmos: Als die, die wir sind, als die Treibenden, geltenwir doch bei bleibenden Brauch. als g6ttlicher Kriiften

(C. W.,III, 372)

Texas Technological College

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