Girl with umbrella. Illustration by K.B.

Before summer rain

Suddenly, from all the green around you, 

Something-you don't know what-has disappeared; 

You feel it creeping closer to the window, 

In total silence. From the nearby wood 

You hear the urgent whistling of a plover, 

Reminding you of someone's Saint Jerome: 

So much solitude and passion come 

From that one voice, whose fierce request the downpour 

Will grant. The walls, with their ancient portraits, glide 

Away from us, cautiously, as though 

They weren't supposed to hear what we are saying. 

And reflected on the faded tapestries now; 

The chill, uncertain sunlight of those long 

Childhood hours when you were so afraid.

Rainer Maria Rilke