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Annotated by:
- Coulehan, Jack
- Date of entry: May-09-1995
Summary
Two persons are washing the body of a dead man. It becomes dark and they light the kitchen lamp. Because they don't know the man, they invent his story: "since they knew nothing about his life / they lied till they produced another one . . . . " When the body is finally washed, it "lay clean and naked there, and gave commands."
Miscellaneous
First published: 1908. Translated by Stephen Mitchell.
Primary Source
The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke
Publisher
Vintage
Place Published
New York
Edition
1989
Editor
Stephen Mitchell
Commentary