Skip to content

How I will cherish you then, you grief-torn nights! Had I…

“How I will cherish you then, you grief-torn nights! Had I only received you, inconsolable sisters, on more abject knees, only buried myself with more abandon in your loosened hair. How we waste our afflictions! We study them, stare out beyond them into bleak continuance, hoping to glimpse some…” quote by Rainer Maria Rilke
Download Open image
“How I will cherish you then, you grief-torn nights! Had I only received you, inconsolable sisters, on more abject knees, only buried myself with more abandon in your loosened hair. How we waste our afflictions! We study them, stare out beyond them into bleak continuance, hoping to glimpse some end. Whereas they're really our wintering foliage, our dark greens of meaning, one of the seasons of the clandestine year -- ; not only a season --: they're site, settlement, shelter, soil, abode.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The poet reflects on grief as both suffering and fertile ground for meaning, urging acceptance of pain as part of life's cycles.

In simple terms: Grief can be a source of meaning.

Key Takeaway

Embrace pain as part of growth.

Themes

grief meaning acceptance growth cycles

Mood

melancholic reflective

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

  • therapy
  • creative writing
  • personal loss
  • spiritual practice

Key Concepts

existentialism psychology poetry

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can you transform personal sorrow into creative insight?
  • What seasons of life does your pain represent?
A Different Perspective

Grief may also paralyze and obscure clarity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

More by Rainer Maria Rilke

Explore all 861 Rainer Maria Rilke quotes

More Abandon quotes

Browse all 1,142 Abandon quotes