Duino Elegies
Within the finitude of life, what can I truly call beautiful?
📝ONGO's Reflection
Whenever I read these elegies, which Rilke wrote at the castle of Duino facing the sea as he listened for the voices of angels, the deepest and most vulnerable part of me trembles. His declaration—"Beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure"—sends a shiver through me no matter how often I read it. Rilke does not flee from human mortality and solitude but gazes straight into them, and from that very finitude he draws a true song of praise. When life feels fleeting, I gladly lend my ear to this sorrowful and majestic song.
"For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure."Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies
"아름다움이란 우리가 간신히 견뎌내는 무서움의 시작일 뿐이다."
🌱Apply It Today
Observe one ordinary object you find on your walk today with your whole heart, as if it were the only one of its kind in the world.
