Soloist

Translated by James Owens

—from the French of R.M. Rilke

Only in music are there such surprises

as when the sobbing of a violin arises

abrupt from a hesitant melody.

Just so, in a dirge long heavy with life's sorrow,

there happened an opening for the solo

where my heart sang out in its ecstasy.

Soliste
by R.M. Rilke

En musique seulement il y a de semblables surprises
quand au milieu d'une phrase trop indécise
monte le brusque sanglot d'un violon.
Ainsi dans un chant longtemps chargé de vie triste,
il se fit une place pour l'abandon
dont mon coeur était le soliste.

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James Owens's newest book is Family Portrait with Scythe (Bottom Dog Press, 2020). His poems and translations appear widely in literary journals, including recent or upcoming publications in The Christian Century, Dappled Things, and Grain. He earned an MFA at the University of Alabama and lives in a small town in northern Ontario.