Maria Rainer Rilke
How could it break away from you?
Oh, for some remote place,
Still and quiet, unmoved
By your resounding depths.
But every touch
Draws us together,
As a violin’s bow
That from two strings
Draws one voice.
Across what instrument
Are we strained?
And by what eager hand
Are we played?
O sweetest song!”
- Rainer Maria Rilke, Love Song
One could easily write off Rilke’s Love Song” as a sappy nod to fate. But here he cleverly portrays love as a powerful force that draws two people together, whether they desire it or not. Love is inevitable. The question is: Who (or what) is that unseen hand?
In our illustration, two complex shapes made from the thinnest of repeating lines are made to vibrate in harmony.
