Wings of Desire

Oh my God those angels are troubling me again!  I have City of Angels on dvd but I read dialogue from Wim Wenders' film Wings of Desire in the Being Human anthology today.  Wings was firstly called Der Himmel uber Berlin (The Heavens over Berlin).  I still want to visit Berlin some day.  Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry inspired Wenders' movie.  There certainly is something about Rilke and angels.  I haven't even seen Wings of Desire, yet.  City of Angels is an American remake of Wings of Desire by the way.

The Angels

They all have lips profoundly tired
and lucid souls without a seam,
and yearning (like a sin desired)
moves sometimes slowly through their dream.

They nigh resemble one another
and walk His gardens silently:
so many intervals that gather
in God's majestic melody.

But only with their wings extending
do they call forth the heaven's gales:
like sculptor God Himself were bending
the pages, and His hands were mending
the book of dark creation tales.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Die Engel


Sie haben alle müde Münde
und helle Seelen ohne Saum.
Und eine Sehnsucht (wie nach Sünde)
geht ihnen manchmal durch den Traum.

Fast gleichen sie einander alle;
in Gottes Gärten schweigen sie,
wie viele, viele Intervalle
in seiner Macht und Melodie.

Nur wenn sie ihre Flügel breiten,
sind sie die Wecker eines Winds:
als ginge Gott mit seinen weiten
Bildhauerhänden durch die Seiten
im dunklen Buch des Anbeginns.

Rainer Maria Rilke

And all of this because?  I was trying to write a poem about the human condition, morality, what is good? What is bad?  It's written anyway and I'm going to bring it to the Boyne Writers' meeting tomorrow night.  I'm sure they will offer me some comment and advice on it.  Being Human is a cool anthology.  Another poet who keeps catching my eye is Louis MacNeice, how awesome are his poems!!! 

I read the poetry for Boyne Berries last week and returned it to Michael Farry for further reading and editing.  The poems were of a very good standard and there were seven or eight that really stood out.  The reading made me think about what makes a poem stand out.  For me it is subject, style, imagery, rhyme, use of language, clear thought and a great poem usually has a really good idea at its centre.  If the voice of a poet comes through strongly then that is also wonderful.  The launch of Boyne Berries 10 will be upon us in no time and I can't wait to see the finished product.