[sunbug]

Catherine,

Since you mentioned Rilke…

 

Lenoir Marie Rilke

How should we be able to forget those myths,
the myths at the beginnings of all peoples,
the myths about dragons, who at the     last moment turn into princesses?

Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.

Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest sense something helpless, that wants help from us.

So you must not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen,

if a restiveness like light and cloud shadow passes over your hands and over all you do.

You must think that something is happening with you,

that life has not forgotten you,

that it holds you in its hands.

It will not let you fall.

Wish I could remember the translator.

But this was the translation as recited by Ron Pearlman as “Vincent,” on CBS’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
There was an audio cassette of several of his other recitations on B&B.

And this was one of those so maybe the Rilke translator was listed there.

Since you were talking about transformations 🙂

Enjoyed your essay! Very thought provoking!