The steadfastness of generations of nobility <br />shows in the curving lines that form the eyebrows. <br />And the blue eyes still show traces of childhood fears <br />and of humility here and there, not of a servant's, <br />yet of one who serves obediantly, and of a woman. <br />The mouth formed as a mouth, large and accurate, <br />not given to long phrases, but to express <br />persuasively what is right. The forehead without guile <br />and favoring the shadows of quiet downward gazing. <br /> <br />This, as a coherent whole, only casually observed; <br />never as yet tried in suffering or succeeding, <br />held together for an enduring fulfillment, <br />yet so as if for times to come, out of these scattered things, <br />something serious and lasting were being planned. <br /> <br /> <br />Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming<br /><br />Rainer Maria Rilke<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/self-portrait-2/
