The Eighth Elegy by Rainer Maria Rilke: The Distance Between Humans is not a Gain, But a Loss

“The Eighth Elegy” by Rainer Maria Rilke is a long contemplation on the human condition. An elegy is a lament for the dead, which, in this case, is humanity. Throughout his poem, Rilke asserts that there is a disparity between the lives of animals and those of humans. Rilke argues that we are too caught up in the nature of understanding. In his first stanza, he makes the case that humans have captured reality in an attempt to box it up and place material value onto it. However, animals live in stark contrast to this. There is no concept of understanding in the animal world, and thus they exist without being haunted by the past or dispirited by the future. I will argue that throughout “The Eighth Elegy” Rilke reveals that the distance between humans is not a gain, but a loss, because of our separation from our true nature.

Rilke begins and ends his poem with the idea that there has been a loss when it comes to humans and humanity: “Never, not for a single day, do we have / before us that pure space into which flowers / endlessly open. . . ” We are constantly suffering from an emptiness that runs rampant in the material world. Rilke accentuates this emptiness with his comparisons between humans and animals. In the first stanza, Rilke’s use of unusual capitalization emphasizes this point: Animals exist in the “Open” this almost mythological place where there are no constructs or limitations. In contrast to this, humans live in the “World” which acts as a representation of modern materialism. The only times we can reach back to our true nature, and brush the freedom of the “Open, ” is when we are near birth, death, or love. Rilke uses children as one example of those who are not yet afraid. “A child may wander there for hours… and be shaken back. ” The phrase “shaken back” reveals the stark difference between the “Open” and the “World. ” People on their deathbeds are another example. “For, nearing death, one doesn’t see death; but stares / beyond, perhaps with an animal’s vast gaze. ” Rilke asserts that although our mortality hinders us, those nearing death no longer see their own fear.

Lovers are also placed in this category of people who “are close to it, and marvel” at the “Open, ” yet who stop due to the presence of the “World. ” The capitalization of the words “World” and “Open” is reminiscent of how we capitalize the word God in the Bible and in other religious literature. Rilke uses this literary technique to allude to the fact that the Open is closer to God while the World is separate from it. The Open and the World are these conceptualized places that illustrate the differences between humans and animals. Rilke writes “The Eighth Elegy” in a fluid, yet forceful way. Although there are instances of periods, he sets up the majority of the text with commas. This grammatical choice gives the poem a continuous effect. The abundance of commas also makes the short sentences that much more impactful. “We arrange it. It breaks down / We rearrange it, then break down ourselves. ” Rilke uses the fluidity of his sentences to draw the reader in, but he then promptly calls us out. “We see the future, it sees all time. ” “Free from death. / We, only, can see death…” Rilke’s comparisons make more points about the nature of humanity than it does about animal existence. The ways we see animals, the things we do to them, are a reflection on ourselves. Animals live in the timelessness of the Open, while we humans, “we spectators, ” exist solely in those short staccato sentences.

Rilke references animals in a way that we can consider between anthropomorphism and anthropodenial. He applies qualities to them like their sense of freedom, and how “[they] move / already in eternity like a fountain. ” Yet he never gives them human-like characteristics. His descriptions of animals transcend human behavior and enter into the realm of God-like attributes. Rilke writes without falling into the trap of personification. Yet, his writing avoids anthropodenial as well. Whereas other authors considered animals dirty or further from divine presence, Rilke considers them the epitome of holiness. Throughout the text Rilke chooses his words carefully. At certain places he uses his words to form double meanings. This is best exemplified in the first stanza “Nowhere without the No: that pure / unseparated element which one breathes without desire and endlessly knows. ” The human notion of “The World” exists, but it is never free from the significance we place on it.

Throughout the poem, Rilke seems to debate the necessity of meaning. He argues that the place animals live in is free from arbitrary rules. Our attempts place meaning into everything that we do, our desire to distance ourselves from animals, has been successful, but Rilke sees it as a failure. The separation between human and animal behavior grows larger due to our inability to look outward. Rilke sees the distance between the species not as some evolutionary miracle, but as a mournful parting. His diction confirms this; his use of words like death, fear, burden, sadness, and break point out the disconnection within the animal kingdom. In the same theme as an elegy, Rilke’s word choice is solemn, yet full of conviction, as he admonishes human nature. We are forever defining a definition-less world.

Rilke’s essay concludes that time is a man-made concept. In order to escape our fate of “forever taking leave” we must rekindle the part of us that once lived in harmony with the animals around us. We are cyclical in our need to attach meaning to existence when, according to Rilke, there is more reality where there is less meaning. The hamartia of the human race is self-awareness. Through his use of stark comparisons, Rilke reveals how humans have built up walls to separate ourselves from animals, and in doing so, we have made ourselves outsiders in the greater world. Humans search for freedom in objects, yet the only freedom we will ever obtain is found in the Open.