Rilke Mary Exis

8/20/2019 Rilke Mary Exis

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Rilke’s The Life of the Virgin Mary

in a Process Philosophy Perspective

Robert E. Doud

In his book of poems, The Life of the Virgin Mary ( Das Marienleben), Rainer !aria

Rilke ("#$%&') presents an imainative elaboration of events in the life of !ary, the

mother of *esus. +hese poems also illustrate the uniue poetic theory of Rilke, -hich,

-hile not as systematic as philosophical thouht, is sho-n in this article to resemble the

basic pattern of thouht in the philosophy of lfred /orth 0hitehead. The Life of the

Virgin Mary also anticipates in strikin -ays Rilke’s more hihly rearded poems, the

Duino Elegies and the Sonnets to Orpheus.

+his article is an attempt to brin out certain aspects of Rilke’s achievement by

comparin them to notions developed in the philosophy of lfred /orth 0hitehead.

0hitehead constructs an idea of a 1od -ho interacts intimately and constantly -ith the

universe. 0hile 0hitehead’s idea of 1od is not that of a creator in the usual sense,

0hitehead’s 1od is a redeemer -ho rescues all achieved value from the ever perishin

universe. +he aspect of 1od that does all the rescuin is called by 0hitehead the

consequent nature of God . +his article claims that, in order to understand 0hitehead’s

philosophy in Rilke’s terms, -e -ould also have to posit or speak of a consequent nature

of Mary.

0hitehead’s process philosophy -orks on t-o levels2 -ith the -hole universe movin

for-ard in cosmic evolution, and -ith the microscopic process by -hich infinitesimal

items of actuality develop. 0hitehead’s philosophy is based on a cosmological scheme

in -hich all the items of ordinary e3perience are composed of myriads of miniscule

actual entities,4 -hich are miniature processes, -ithout duration, that involve primitive

mentality and sub5ectivity. +hese actual entities arise, perish, and are preserved in

successor actual entities, accordin to a metaphysical process called concrescence.6 +here

are strikin similarities bet-een five focal aspects of Rilke’s poetry enerally and my

revised five%phased version of the structure of concrescence as found in 0hitehead. +he


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five focal phases in all of Rilke’s poetry comprise a poetics that is e3emplified in his Life

of the Virgin Mary.

+he main correspondence discovered here is bet-een !ary’s inner temple or 7osmic

Inner 8pace (!eltinnenraum)$ in Rilke, and 0hitehead’s process of concrescence,

especially in its second or process phase, -hich is characteri9ed by the activity of

prehension. "rehension# is the term applied by 0hitehead to the -ay in -hich an earlier

actual entity is dra-n into and becomes a constituent in a later actual entity. +he internal

phases of concrescence, includin the process phase -ith its multitudinous prehensions,

and the satisfaction phase, correspond to Rilke’s 7osmic Inner 8pace. In the conte3t of

this article and of Das Marienleben, the internal staes of concrescence, insofar as they

imply a space -here concrescence takes place, comprise !ary’s inner temple. Indiscussions of Rilke’s poetry enerally, there is reference to an inner maiden ( inneres

M$dchen) -hich miht be called, in the case of !ary, her inner temple.

+his article contains many reflections on the nature of poetry, includin Rilke’s

poetics of !eltinnenraum, accordin to -hich poets are :bees of the invisible,;# -ho ive

e3ternal thins an everlastin value by brinin them into themselves for preservation.

!eltinnenraum suests that the beauty of the environment converes vector%like upon

the poet and contributes reatly to the constitution of the bein of the poet -hen taken

-ithin.


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-omen as sources and symbols of beauty, (') distilled beauty and the inneres M$dchen,

(4) the


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inherited, not by one or 5ust a fe-, but by a countless number of ne- actual entities that

succeed it. >ecause every actual entity is freihted -ith intentions and influences for

future actual entities beyond itself, it is called a super+ect .

In "rocess and %eality, accordin to 0hitehead, the four staes of concrescence are=

datum, process, satisfaction, and decision. t different points in his considerable corpus

of -ritin, 0hitehead considers the final stae of concrescence to be the satisfaction, the

decision,' or the anticipation.4 I consider it helpful, and uite consistent -ith

0hitehead’s intentions, to speak of five distinct staes of concrescence, -hich correlate

respectively -ith the five basic themes in Rilke’s poetry. +hese five staes of

concrescence are= () datum, (') process, (4) satisfaction, (6) decision, and ($)

anticipation. +he datum and anticipation staes are e3ternal or public staes. +he internaland private staes are process, satisfaction, and decision.

In the datum stae, the myriad actual entities of the actual ,orld 6 of a ne-ly formin

actual entity convere upon it as data to be prehended. In the process stae, $ the ne-

entity takes possession of all of its contributors as they coalesce -ithin it. In the process

stae, the novel occasion then arranes these data by the cateory 0hitehead calls

prehension into a coordinated team of immanent self%donors. @ere, each prehended

actual entity is assined a value and a place as it enters into the real internal composition

of the ne- actual entity.

+he third stae is one of satisfaction, self%feelin or self%en5oyment.# +his stae

involves transcendence over the -orld that has coalesced to create it, as the actual entity

achieves private sub5ective immediacy. 0hitehead treats satisfaction as a final, e3ternal,

and public stae of concrescence, -hereas I treat satisfaction as a self%feelin that is

internal and private. 0hitehead closely coordinates the stae of satisfaction -ith the

actual entity as super+ect ," -hereas I reard satisfaction as a stae of in-ardness and

private sub5ectivity. +he fine deliht associated -ith poetry reuires an inner stae of

satisfaction that precedes and transcends public involvement. Every actual entity en5oys

its satisfaction as an inner phase of at least minimal sub5ectivity and intimate privacy.

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+he fourth stae is the decision stae,& still an internal and private phase, in -hich the

actual entity cuts itself off from its constituents and cuts off its internal pulse of self%

reali9ation as -ell. +he decision stae supplies the discipline by -hich the actual entity

denies itself endurance. +he decision stae is in this sense the death of the actual entity,

an active self%completion and consent to perishin. +he fifth or anticipation stae is the

actual entity’s preparation for entrance as a datum, that is, as a publicly traded inredient,

into the constitution of successor actual entities. In my revised 0hiteheadian vie-, it is

the anticipation stae that is to be closely coordinated -ith the super5ective nature of the

actual entity.

0hiteheadian frame-ork has not been often or -idely e3ploited for doin literary

criticism. If used as a lens throuh -hich to look -hile en5oyin literature, it brins toliht elements that may be missed, or -hose full impact may be missed, if this lens -ere

not used. +his scheme of 0hitehead’s corresponds in remarkable -ays -ith the chief

factors in the poetics and literary proram of Rilke. Rilke has five poetic themes or

concerns that can be understood and interpreted by comparin them in seuence -ith the

five 0hiteheadian phases of concrescence as suested above.

ii. %il-e*s oncerns and !hitehead*s Stages

+he staes of concrescence, -hile loically successive, are co%eually immediate and

non%temporal2 the entire actual entity perishes as soon as it occurs. 0orkin in close

association -ith the sub+ecti/e aim,'? the satisfaction stae,' althouh it is the third stae,

is present -ith the first t-o staes or phases, and has a uidin influence over them. +he

satisfaction stae uides the -ays in -hich the novel actual entity prehends and values its

data occasions. ccordinly, the sub5ective aim assins the sub+ecti/e forms to the

multifarious data. 7oncrescence beins -hen an initial aim,'4 or lure for feelin, is

supplied by 1od.'6 +his inauurates the spontaneity of the ne- actual entity, as this initial

aim develops into the sub5ective aim, thus allo-in the actual entity to become at atom of

decision, determinin many thins about itself.

+o the datum phase in concrescence corresponds Rilke’s concern -ith the many

-omen'$ -ho served as !uses and inspirations for his poetic -ork. +hese -omen stand

$


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for all the other items of beauty as -ell as themselves in providin data for concrescence.

+hese are distilled into one ideali9ed female fiure, the Madonna Lisa# or the Inner

!aiden (inneres M$dchen), -ho serves as a unifyin feature in the second or process

stae. +hus the various data, prehended in terms of respect for their beauty, convere and

rush in upon that in terms of -hich they are prehended, the Inner !aiden or inneres

M$dchen. +he inner space in -hich this occurs is Rilke’s Inner 7osmic 8pace or

!eltinnenraum. +he Inner !aiden also entails a specific set of eternal ob+ects,'# -hich

serve as a lures for feeling 0 supplied by 1od for the attraction and orani9ation of

relevant data.

+he third reat concern in Rilke’s poetics is that of the


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Rilke’s fifth stae corresponds to the fiure of


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presented in the temple.4& +he outer trappins of the lorious temple in *erusalem are

dra-n into !ary and form in her an inner temple. 0hat has convered from -ithout

coalesces -ithin in a process of incorporation, -hich coincides -ith 0hitehead’s

doctrine of prehension and his process phase of concrescence.

+he third theme is that of inner satisfaction, an intense feelin of one’s o-n inner

bein, as in the scene of the :nnunciation of the 8hepherds.;6? !ary’s in-ard

satisfaction is her en5oyment of her in-ardness or inner lo/ingness ( 4nnig-eit ), in her

inner temple, self%constructed throuh the process of concrescence. +his satisfaction is

!ary’s inner e3perience of e3uberant e3pansiveness, -hich, in the Duino Elegies -ill be

called &ber'$hliges Dasein. +he fourth or decision stae is not portrayed in the

:nnunciation of the 8hepherds2; it -ill be illustrated in other poems. Indeed, thesatisfaction stae is barely portrayed, as Rilke hurries on to portray the fifth or

anticipation stae.

In the :nnunciation of the 8hepherds,; the anel presents himself as the e3terior

pro5ection or manifestation of !ary’s in-ardness. +he anel represents !ary more as a

super5ect than as sub5ect. In this poem, the anel reveals that he is the appearance of

!ary’s in-ardness ( 4nnig-eit ).6 @er in-ardness is private and belons to !ary alone.

+he anel is not this in-ardness, but is the outer manifestation of her in-ardness. +he

anel represents the makin public and e3terior of that -hich is oriinally private and

interior. +he anel, as outer manifestation or e3terior pro5ection, belons to the fifth or

anticipation stae of concrescence.

. . . !y -hole bein burns

and shines so stronly and is so immensely

full of liht that the deep firmament

no loner suffices for me . . .

+he anel, at first a pro5ection of !ary’s in-ardness, no- e3periences himself to be a

ne- risin star, brimmin -ith liht and bein, but he still claims that he emanates from

!aryB

"


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. . . I am the shine

of her lovinness ( 4nnig-eit ), that oes -ith you.6'

@erter /orton translates 4nnig-eit5 not as in,ardness5 as Ceishman does, but instead aslo/ingness. In either case, it is the inner bein of !ary that superabundantly ushes out to

illumine and uide the shepherds. Aor Rilke, this emanatin in-ardness also anticipates

the mission of


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sudden full force of this intimacy -as frihtenin both to !ary and to the anel. +his

kind of intimacy involves a resonance or attunement bet-een the satisfaction staes of

t-o separate dominant occasions. +he intensity of satisfaction in one of the satisfactions

in uestion has altoether to do -ith the intensity of satisfaction in the actual entity -ith

-hom it is intimate. In the :nnunciation to !ary;66 poem, her e3perience of shock

(erschrec-te sie), a satisfaction of a sort, is a function of her encounter -ith the anel.

+he meetin of their eyes occasions an intimacy that shocks and startles both of them.

0ith this said and taken account of, it is important not to miss another inner feelin of

satisfaction of !ary that takes place early in the poem, :nnunciation to !ary.; 0hen

the anel first entered, !ary -as not afraid of him, but she -as :filled -ith indination

( sich 'u entr&sten); at the form in -hich the anel came. @e had assumed a youn man’sface, and he stared immediately into her eyes. +he friht came later, but at first there -as

indination or resistance, somethin that affirms in the poem, not only the modesty and

purity, but also the autonomy and self%preservin dinity of !ary as a -oman.

lso in this poem, Rilke uses the leendary imae of the unicorn beettin itself in the

-omb of the hind, as the hind a9es on !ary in her fantastic purity. It is as if somethin

is beettin itself in the -omb of !ary, as she a9es -ith total rapture into the face of the

absolutely pure anelic bein. 8omethin creates itself in the circumstance of the purest

intimacy bet-een the purest of beins, one from each of the t-o realms, the heavenly and

the earthly. It is to be hoped in this instance that this heihtenin separately of human

intimacy and anelic purity does not obscure the importance of virinity as a symbol of

!ary’s autonomy. s nne 7arr points out, :+he doctrine of the virin%birth, for

e3ample, indicates that a -oman need not be totally defined by her relationships -ith

men, that virinity can be a symbol of interal female autonomy.; 6$ Intimacy -ith the

anel, -hile interestin, especially to the male poet, is not as important as the inviolate

autonomy of !ary.

In the Sonnets to Orpheus, the unicorn is a reference to


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ains everlastinness as the son (Gesang ) of


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+his poem, as also the precedin one, cries out for a metaphysics of intimacy, evokin

comparison -ith 0hitehead’s doctrine of prehension. Prehension e3plains ho- one

datum enters the constitution of another datum. >y prehension, the environment,

includin personal encounters, enters into the constitution of a ne-ly concrescin actual

entity. 0hat the poem describes here are actual entities of one person as they are

incorporated into the real internal make%up of another person. +his involves a eneral

metaphysics of internal relations, that is, of ne- actual entities constitutin themselves by

takin into themselves the already reali9ed actualities of their actual -orlds. +his entails a

metaphysics of both in-ardness ( 4nnig-eit ) and intimacy (Vertrautheit ).

In :+he isitation of the irin,; -e also have persons absorbin internally the

influences of other persons. In process philosophy, the reali9ed occasions of one personale3istence enter into the composition of ne- occasions of another person’s e3istence. +his

provides a metaphysics of intimacy in -hich, even the satisfaction stae of each

successive occasion, private as it is, is en5oyed entirely in function of the intimacy

achieved in the earlier process stae of its concrescence. Each of the t-o -omen, :filled

-ith holiness ( 9ede5 /oll /on ihrem 2eiligtume . . .); en5oys superabundant e3uberance

in virtue of her encounter -ith her cousin, re5oicin toether, each reenactin -ithin

herself the 5oy of the other. Earlier in the poem, it says of !ary= :no one could e3ceed the

e3pansive po-er die Gr8sseF that she no- e3perienced.;

:>efore the Passion;6# is the poem in -hich !ary as -oman of faith challenes the

plan of 1od. @er uestionin or resistance sho-s the freedom humans e3perience as the

initial aim supplied by 1od is converted into an authentic sub5ective aim. !ary no-

reali9es -hat her son’s mission and destiny -ill be. 0hy should 1od have chosen this

pure and sensitive -oman as mother and companion in the life of the savior, if his destiny

is to be :torn apart by tiers;G It seems in the poem as if 1od prepares us for one thin,

and then sends another thin our -ay2 :you have suddenly turned nature around.; /ot in

reference to this poem, but helpful in interpretin it, is nne 7arr’s areement -ith

Dorothy 8oelle in seein !ary as :a role model of resistance and a symbol that cannot be

surrendered. 0omen -ho have loved !ary have not been blind or duped.;6"

'


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8aviors :should by riht be uarried from mountains.; If they are to have such harsh

treatment, they should be made of touher stuff, and so, a fortiori, should their mothers.

+hese lines anticipate the :Pieta;6& scene in a later poem, one in -hich !ary is depicted

as turned to stone. It also reaches back brilliantly to the :Presentation of !ary in the

+emple; poem and scene, -here !ary’s inner space -as filled -ith stone, as the temple

of *erusalem became the inner temple of her heart. @er heart is ever bein built into a

temple, but, in the process, it seems that, and feels like, she is bein chaned to stone.

0hiteheadian thinks here that even a stone, in its very obduracy, is made of actual

entities -ith minimal traces of mentality and sub5ectivity. temple may indeed be built

of stone, but it is beautiful and it encloses a sacred inner space.

Previously, in the Presentation scene, Rilke spoke of the hue curtain coverin the@oly of @olies, behind -hich !ary catches a limpse. @ere, in :>efore the Passion,; she

is presented as -eavin the seamless arment *esus -ill -ear to his death. ccordin to

this poem, she -as brouht up in the ,oman*s room in order to -eave this arment. +he

-oman’s room is another reference to her inner space, and to the ruminatin and

memory%buildin that oes on -ithin her. It is suested that there is a parallel or strikin

comparison bet-een the reat veil of the temple and the seamless cloak of *esus.

+here is also a close analoy here bet-een the holy of holies in the temple of

*erusalem and the inner space of !ary. +his is an inner cosmic space in -hich all the

beauty and holiness of the universe is athered into unity. @ere is a kind of prenancy or

increasin fullness that -as not finished -ith the birth of her son2 the knittin -ithin her

of the flesh and tissue of the incarnation oes on -ithin her all of her life. If -e can think

no-, as -e do later, of a consequent nature of Mary, -e can conceive of her as lovinly

incorporatin aspects of our o-n lives and e3periences into her most authentic and

intimate constitution.

nticipation, indeed, suspense, has been buildin throuh all of the poems so far.

8uddenly, in the :Pieta; poem it comes to a clima3. Perhaps Rilke is thinkin of a block

of marble, or of !ichelanelo’s sculpture -hen he -rites= :Riid am I, as stone at the

stone’s core.; In any case, !ary has suffered so much that it seems she cannot suffer any

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more. +he absolute in rief has been reached2 her heart feels as if it had been turned to

stone. It is as if in her process phase she -ere prehendin the hardness of all of her bitter

e3periences, and distillin out of all of them the accumulated hardness or numbness of

her o-n heart. +he birthin process is over= :no- you lie riht across my -omb, H no- I

can nevermore H ive birth to you.; ny 5oy she had has been for the moment transformed

into sorro-= :into a rief so lare, it is beyond my heart to rasp . . .;

+he poem :7onsolation of !ary -ith 7hrist risen;$? builds upon the solidarity, even

unto death, -hich -as built up bet-een !ary and *esus in the previous poem. >ecause

she shares most intensely in his death, she shares ever so intensely in his resurrection. @e

oes to her first, the poet insists. 8he is, and must be, to Rilke, the first -itness of the

resurrection. ccordinly, she is the first to kno- about her redemption, and is, in thissense, the first 7hristian. 0hat happened bet-een them is presented as the s-eetest of

secrets. 0hatever it -as, it is not reported in the ospels, and is not a matter of public

revelation. +he ospel leaves this beautiful secret to the imainations of poets and other

7hristians in later times. +his poem is an e3uisite testimony to the uniue and privileed

intimacy obtainin bet-een this mother and this son.

0hen !ary becomes a rock or stone, hardened throuh sufferin in the Pieta scene,

-e miht think of her as the primal mother of all, even of the earth itself. ncient

peoples, and some modern paans and aboriinals as -ell, -orship the earth as mother. If

!ary is in some sense identical -ith the earth, then *esus, -hen entombed, returns to her

body. Easter then becomes a second birthin event. Interpreted in another -ay, Easter is

an event of the communin of *esus and !ary, -ith the themes of reunion and

consolation ascendant over everythin else=

nd they bean,

still as the trees in 8prin,

infinitely toether,

this season

of their ultimate communin.

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:


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the metaphysical system of 0hitehead, and one of them is to absorb into 1od’s o-n

constitution all of the reali9ed perfection of the universe, that is, all actual entities

-hatsoever. /othin is lost to the inner constitution of 1od, and all events achieve

everlastin relevance and importance in 1od. +he divine conseuent nature is the

ultimate inner temple, the supreme ultimate inner space or !eltinnenraum. 1od’s inner

temple is the place in -hich !ary is enthroned.

i/. Enthronement5 4ntimacy5 4nner Space

+he metaphysics of the relationship bet-een !ary and *esus in the enthronement

scene is not different from their intimacy in :7onsolation of !ary -ith 7hrist risen,; or

in any other poem. +heir intimacy is a matter of mutual prehension. !oment by moment,

he becomes immanent in her, and she becomes immanent in him. +he lovin valuations

each ives the other in their second or process staes of concrescence are very hih. +he

prehensions they have of one another are not the kind of prehensions by -hich individual

persons prehend the successive actual entities or dominant occasions of their o-n past

personal life. +he valuation she ives to him is that of both mother’s love and adoration2

the valuation he affords her is a son’s love and veneration that surpasses any iven to any

other creature or to all the rest of creation taken toether.

+-o concrescences are described in Rilke’s enthronement scene. +he heavenly scene

is first of all the concrescence of 7hrist. ll is arraned about him and -ithin him. Even

so, the seat ne3t to him is empty. >rihtness streams from him2 these rays represent the

anticipation staes of 7hrist’s actual entities, %% his super5ects %% iven over to be

prehended by the blessed beholders. !ary is introduced as a datum or set of data

prehended by him, alon -ith all the other ne- souls enterin heaven.


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In a lorious concrescence of her o-n, !ary enters her son’s concrescence. @ers fills

up somethin lackin in his, as symboli9ed by the empty seat ne3t to him. 8he is datum,

yet she is fully and personally concrescent, en5oyin sub5ective immediacy=

ll -atched her. s if feelin= I must be

his lonest pain, she leant round an3iously

and a9ed= %% and then rushed for-ard . . .

+he empty seat ne3t to 7hrist miht allo- of further e3planation alon 0hiteheadian

lines. It miht represent the 7osmic Inner 8pace of 7hrist, his inneres M$dchen. >ut,

until !ary arrives to fill it, the prehension in 7hrist of all the other saints cannot be

complete. 8he is not only another datum, she is the inneres M$dchen itself. In the Sonnets

to Orpheus, Eurydice$ serves the same function for


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Part three of :


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in a Process Philosophy Perspective

Robert E. Doud

In his book of poems, The Life of the Virgin Mary ( Das Marienleben), Rainer !aria

Rilke ("#$%&') presents an imainative elaboration of events in the life of !ary, the

mother of *esus. +his article is an attempt to brin out certain aspects of Rilke’s

achievement by comparin them to notions developed in the philosophy of lfred /orth

0hitehead. 0hile 0hitehead’s idea of 1od is not that of a creator in the usual sense,

0hitehead’s 1od is a redeemer -ho rescues all achieved value from the ever perishin

universe. +he aspect of 1od that does all the rescuin is called by 0hitehead the

consequent nature of God . +his article claims that, in order to understand 0hitehead’s

philosophy in Rilke’s terms, -e -ould also have to posit or speak of a consequent natureof Mary.

+he ideas derived from Rilke’s poetry and eneral poetics that are used in this article

are= -omen as sources and symbols of beauty, the Inner !aiden in the mind of the poet,

the superabundant e3istence or inner satisfaction of the poet, authentic death as decisive

self%completion, and the lastin ifts of the poet as praise or son. The Life of the Virgin

Mary anticipates in strikin -ays Rilke’s more hihly rearded poems, the Duino Elegies

and the Sonnets to Orpheus. 0hitehead’s notion of concrescence is e3plored as a model

for understandin the synthetic connection of key elements in Rilke’s theory of poetry.

+he notion of mutual prehension is used to e3plain e3traordinary states of intimacy.

&


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'?


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Rainer !aria Rilke, Translations from the "oetry of %ainer Maria %il-e5 trans. !. D. (!ary

Do-) @erter /orton (/e- Kork= 0. 0. /orton L 7o., &4") &4%'4.


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Ibid., '"&2 :n actual entity considered in reference to the publicity ob5ectivityF of thins is a

Nsuper5ect’2 namely, it arises from the publicity -hich it finds, and it adds itself to the publicity -hich it

transmits.;

' Ibid., 6&%$?2 :+he four staes constitutive of an actual entity . . . can be named datum,

process, satisfaction, decision.; +he decision :adds a determinate condition to the settlement for thefuture beyond itself.;

4 0hitehead, 3d/entures of 4deas &'2 :+his process concrescenceF can be shortly characteri9ed

as a passae from reenaction to anticipation.; In reference to anticipation, 0hitehead says= :+his final

phase anticipationF is other-ise termed the Nsatisfaction,’ . . .; Revisin this identification of

anticipation -ith satisfaction, I consider the t-o as separate staes.

6 0hitehead, "rocess and %eality5 '42 :+he ne3us of actual entities in the universe correlate to a

concrescence is termed the Nactual -orld’ correlate to that concrescence.;

$ Ibid., ''2 :+he second processF stae is overned by the private ideal, radually shaped in the

process itself2 -hereby the many feelins prehensionsF, derivatively felt as alien, are transformed into

a unity of aesthetic appreciation immediately felt as private.;

Ibid., &2 : prehension reproduces in itself the eneral characteristics of an antecedentF actual

entity= it is referent to an e3ternal -orld, and in this sense -ill be said to have a Nvector’

character2 . . .;

# 0hitehead, 3d/entures of 4deas5 &42 :+hus the self%en5oyment of an occasion of e3perience

actual entityF is initiated by an en5oyment of the past as alive in itself and is terminated by an

en5oyment of itself as alive in the future.; +o me, the satisfaction is the present, internal, intrinsic,

aspect of self%en5oyment.

" 0hitehead, "rocess and %eality5 "62 :>ut the Nsatisfaction’ is the Nsuper5ect,’ rather than the

Nsubstance’ or the Nsub5ect.’;

& Ibid., 642 :+he -ord decisionF is used in its root sense of a Ncuttin off.’; nd, :It decisionF

represents stubborn fact that cannot be evaded.; Decision cuts off -hat is actual from -hat is potential2

it is the same as ivenness or determinateness.

'? Ibid., '$2 :+he Nsub5ective aim,’ -hich controls the becomin of a sub5ect actual entityF, is that

sub5ect feelin a proposition a lure for feelinF -ith the sub5ective form affective toneF of purpose.;

' Ibid., &2 :+his sub5ective form is determined by the sub5ective aim . . .;

'' Ibid., '42 :+hat every prehension consists of three factors= (a) the Nsub5ect’ -hich is

prehendin, namely, the actual entity in -hich that prehension is a concrete element2 (b) the Ndatum’

-hich is prehended2 (c) the Nsub5ective form’ -hich is ho, that sub5ect prehends that datum.;


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'4 Ibid., #2 :+his initial phase initial aimF is a direct derivate from 1od’s primordial nature.;

'6 Ibid., ?"2 :. . . an initial aim supplied by the round of all order and of all oriinality 1odF.;

'$ 1raff, %ainer Maria %il-e: reati/e 3nguish of a Modern "oet5 passim. 1raff provides

references to Cou ndreas 8alome, Princess !arie of +hurn and +a3is, :>envenuta,; 7lara 0esthoff

Rilke, Paula !odersohn%>ecker, Matharina Mippenber, Erika !itterer, Cotte Prit9el, 1asparra 8tampa,:!erline,; era e forever dead in Eurydice J more ladly arise H into the seamless life produced in

your son.; The Life of Mary -as first published in &42 the Sonnets to Orpheus -as published in

&''.

44 Rilke, Selected "oems of %ainer Maria %il-e, trans. Robert >ly (/e- Kork= @arper L Ro-,

Publishers, &"), "#. >ly renders Gesang ist Dasein as :+o -rite poetry is to be alive.; :8inin is

his bliss; is my o-n translation.


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46 0hitehead, "rocess and %eality5 462 :+he conseuent nature of 1od is his 5udment on the

-orld. @e saves the -orld as it passes into the immediacy of his o-n life.;

4$ Ibid., ?#2 :. . . a thread of personal order alon some historical route of its members. 8uch an

endurin entity is a Nlivin person.’;

4

Ibid., '$2 :It each actual entityF really e3periences a future -hich must be actual, althouhthe completed actualities of that future are undetermined. In this sense, each actual occasion

e3periences its o-n ob5ective immortality.;

4# Rilke, N+he >irth of !ary (Geburt Mariae),; Translations from the "oetry of %ainer Maria

%il-e5 &$.

4" Ibid., $42 :. . . the datum an ob5ectified actual entityF, -hich involves the actual -orld,

becomes a component in the one novelF actual entity.;

4& Rilke, :+he Presentation of the irin !ary in the +emple ( Die Darstellung Mariae im

Tempel ),; Translations from the "oetry of %ainer Maria %il-e5 %". In this poem, !ary’s heart or

inner bein is described as if it -ere the inside of a temple. 8ee also, Rilke, The Life of the Virgin Mary,

trans. 7hristine !c /eill, ?%.

6? Rilke, :nnunciation of the 8hepherds (Ver-&ndigung &ber den 2irten),; Translations from the

"oetry of %ainer Maria %il-e5 '?#%", or Rilke, The Life of the Virgin Mary, trans. 7hristine !c /eill,

$.

6 ly, in Rilke, Selected "oems of %ainer

Maria %il-e5 42 : 4nnig-eit is the 1erman -ord associated -ith such poetry, -hich becomes

Nin-ardness’ in Enlish2 . . .; Erich @eller makes an absolute for Rilke out of the ideal of in-ardness,

and thus distorts Rilke reatly -hen he -rites= :/o- e3ternal reality has no claims any more to bein

real. +he only real -orld for RilkeF is the -orld of human in-ardness.; 8ee, Erich @eller, The 3rtist*s

9ourney into the 4nterior and Other Essays (/e- Kork= @arcourt >race, *ovanovitch, Publishers, ),

&". Rilke is better interpreted as achievin a dialectic bet-een a rounded ?@ABC5 trans. Ed-ard 8no- (/e- Kork= /orth Point, &&6), #6. In the

poem, :


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66 Rilke, :nnunciation to !ary ( Mariae Ver-&ndigung ),; Translations from the "oetry of %ainer

Maria %il-e5 '??%, or Rilke, The Life of the Virgin Mary, trans. 7. A. !acIntyre (Cos neles=

niversity of 7alifornia Press, &6#), &, or Rilke, The Life of the Virgin Mary, trans. 7hristine !c

/eill, '.

6$

nne E. 7arr, Transforming Grace (/e- Kork= @arper L Ro-, &""), &?. Aeminist thinkersmay -ish to critici9e :Reuiem,; a poem by Rilke for Paula%!odersohn >ecker, complainin of her

takin up domestic life rather that pursuin fully her career in art. 8ee, Rilke, :Reuiem,; in The

Selected "oetry of %ainer Maria %il-e, 4?6%$.

6 Rilke, :+he isitation of the irin ( Mariae 2eimsuchung ),; Translations from the "oetry of

%ainer Maria %il-e5 '?4, or Rilke, The Life of the Virgin Mary, trans. 7hristine !c /eill, 4.

6# Rilke, :>efore the Passion (Vor der "assion),; Translations from the "oetry of %ainer Maria

%il-e5 '"%&.


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$" Rilke, :

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