--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As one puts a handkerchief before…" description: "\"“As one puts a handkerchief before pent-in-breath- no: as one presses it against a wound out of which the whole of life, in a single gush, wants to str..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/rainer-maria-rilke-193_life_as-one-puts-a-handkerchief-before-pent-i_877033.jpg" --- # As one puts a handkerchief before pent-in-breath- no: as… ![“As one puts a handkerchief before pent-in-breath- no: as one presses it against a wound out of which the whole of life, in a single gush, wants to stream, I held you to me: I saw you turn red from me. How could anyone express what took place between us? We made up for everything there was never…” quote by Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/rainer-maria-rilke-193_life_as-one-puts-a-handkerchief-before-pent-i_877033.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/rainer-maria-rilke-193_life_as-one-puts-a-handkerchief-before-pent-i_877033.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/rainer-maria-rilke-193_life_as-one-puts-a-handkerchief-before-pent-i_877033.jpg) > ““As one puts a handkerchief before pent-in-breath- no: as one presses it against a wound out of which the whole of life, in a single gush, wants to stream, I held you to me: I saw you turn red from me. How could anyone express what took place between us? We made up for everything there was never time for. I matured strangely in every impulse of unperformed youth, and you, love, had wildest childhood over my heart…”” [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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. A deep, intimate connection transforms both lovers, making each feel reborn and healed through shared vulnerability. **In simple terms:** Love heals and reshapes us. Key Takeaway Embrace vulnerability with love. Themes love healing transformation youth memory Mood reflective poetic Type romantic introspective When to use this quote - romantic confession - personal growth - creative inspiration Key Concepts intimacy emotional rebirth shared experience Questions to Reflect On - How does vulnerability change you? - What does love teach about self? A Different Perspective The intensity may fade over time, leaving longing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [I had a sense of mortality since I was a little girl, which has to do with my father, who nearly died eight times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-steenburgen/i-had-a-sense-of-mortality-since-i-was-a-little-girl-which-has-to-do/) [Mary Steenburgen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-steenburgen/) > [“I blink January’s lashes and gush down December’s cheeks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/i-blink-january-s-lashes-and-gush-down-december-s-cheeks/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) > [“Then a calm fell upon him. The gushing began from all sorts of places, all over his body. He heard pleasurable little giggles on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grossman/then-a-calm-fell-upon-him-the-gushing-began-from-all-sorts-of-places/) [David Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grossman/) > [Gush Etzion must be part of Israel for eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-herzog/gush-etzion-must-be-part-of-israel-for-eternity/) [Isaac Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-herzog/) > [Joy is not gush. Joy is not mere jolliness. Joy is perfect acquiescence ~ acceptance, rest ~ in God’s will, whatever comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/joy-is-not-gush-joy-is-not-mere-jolliness-joy-is-perfect-acquiescence/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) > [Maaele Adumim is part of Israel. Gush Etzion is part of Israel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ehud-olmert/maaele-adumim-is-part-of-israel-gush-etzion-is-part-of-israel/) [Ehud Olmert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ehud-olmert/) > [“think: the hero prolongs himself, even his falling was only a pretext for being, his latest rebirth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/think-the-hero-prolongs-himself-even-his-falling-was-only-a-pretext/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“The Letters to a young poet illustrate perfectly the kindliness, the complexity, and at the same time the impersonality and remoteness of Rilke’s manner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-letters-to-a-young-poet-illustrate-perfectly-the-kindliness-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Lovers were not, Marina, are not permitted to know destruction so deeply. Must be as if they were new. Only their grave is old,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/lovers-were-not-marina-are-not-permitted-to-know-destruction-so/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Not numbering and counting, but ripening like a tree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/not-numbering-and-counting-but-ripening-like-a-tree/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Do you remember…(doesn’t that appear in each of my letters?), do you remember that you spoke of how eagerly you experienced that period when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/do-you-remember-doesn-t-that-appear-in-each-of-my-letters-do-you/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“We of the here-and-now are not for a moment satisfied in the world of time, nor are we bound in it; we are continually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/we-of-the-here-and-now-are-not-for-a-moment-satisfied-in-the-world-of/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“If you were to give yourself over to this angel, Rilke tells the reader, some day, some night, the angel’s light hands kämen denn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/if-you-were-to-give-yourself-over-to-this-angel-rilke-tells-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“How they are all about, these gentlemen In chamberlains' apparel, stocked and laced, Like night around their order's star and gem And growing ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/how-they-are-all-about-these-gentlemen-in-chamberlains-apparel/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“And you, Clara Westhoff, how simply and well you endured, lived through the experience, and made it a forward step in your young existence!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/and-you-clara-westhoff-how-simply-and-well-you-endured-lived-through/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More by Rainer Maria Rilke > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. 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Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms, like books written in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/have-patience-with-everything-that-remains-unsolved-in-your-heart-try/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) [Explore all 861 Rainer Maria Rilke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More Gush quotes > [Maaele Adumim is part of Israel. Gush Etzion is part of Israel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ehud-olmert/maaele-adumim-is-part-of-israel-gush-etzion-is-part-of-israel/) [Ehud Olmert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ehud-olmert/) > [Joy is not gush. Joy is not mere jolliness. Joy is perfect acquiescence ~ acceptance, rest ~ in God’s will, whatever comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/joy-is-not-gush-joy-is-not-mere-jolliness-joy-is-perfect-acquiescence/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) > [Gush Etzion must be part of Israel for eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-herzog/gush-etzion-must-be-part-of-israel-for-eternity/) [Isaac Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-herzog/) > [“Then a calm fell upon him. The gushing began from all sorts of places, all over his body. He heard pleasurable little giggles on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grossman/then-a-calm-fell-upon-him-the-gushing-began-from-all-sorts-of-places/) [David Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grossman/) > [“I blink January’s lashes and gush down December’s cheeks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/i-blink-january-s-lashes-and-gush-down-december-s-cheeks/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) Browse all 6 Gush quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As one puts a handkerchief before pent-in-breath- no: as one presses it against a wound out of which the whole of life, in a single gush, wants to stream, I held you to me: I saw you turn red from me. How could anyone express what took place between us? We made up for everything there was never time for. 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