The Merry-Go-Round

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The Merry-Go-Round

• by Rainer Maria Rilke

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Under the roof and the roofs shadow turns this
train of painted horses for a while in this
bright land that lingers before it perishes. In
what brave style they prance though some pull
wagons.
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And there burns a wicked lion red with anger
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and now and then A big white elephant.
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Even a stag runs here, as in the wood,
save that he bears a saddle where, upright,
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a little girl in blue sits, buckled tight.
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And on the lion whitely rides a young boy who
clings with little sweaty hands, the while the
lion shows his teeth and tongue.
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And now and then a big white elephant.
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And on the horses swiftly going by are shining
girls who have outgrown this play
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in the middle of the flight they let their
eyes glance here and there and near and far away
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and now and then a big white elephant.
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And all this hurries toward the end, so
fast, whirling futilely, evermore the same.
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A flash of red, of green, of gray, goes past,
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and then a little scarce-begun profile.
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And oftentimes a blissful dazzling smile
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vanishes in this blind and breathless game.
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