1902RilkeRM

Works of art that mention ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) are extremely rare. One such work is the poem «Der Schauende» (He Who Visions, The Seer, The Man Watching, The Beholder) by Rainer Rilke. Below is the original text in German.

Der Schauende

1. Ich sehe den Bäumen die Stürme an, die aus laugewordenen Tagen an meine ängstlichen Fenster schlagen, und höre die Fernen Dinge sagen, die ich nicht ohne Freund ertragen, nicht ohne Schwester lieben kann.

2. Da geht der Sturm, ein Umgestalter, geht durch den Wald und durch die Zeit, und alles ist wie ohne Alter: die Landschaft, wie ein Vers im Psalter, ist Ernst und Wucht und Ewigkeit.

3. Wie ist das klein, womit wir ringen, was mit uns ringt, wie ist das groß; ließen wir, ähnlicher den Dingen, uns so vom großen Sturm bezwingen, - wir würden weit und namenlos.

4. Was wir besiegen, ist das Kleine, und der Erfolg selbst macht uns klein. Das Ewige und Ungemeine will nicht von uns gebogen sein. Das ist der Engel, der den Ringern des Alten Testaments erschien: wenn seiner Widersacher Sehnen im Kampfe sich metallen dehnen, fühlt er sie unter seinen Fingern wie Saiten tiefer Melodien.

5. Wen dieser Engel überwand, welcher so oft auf Kampf verzichtet, der geht gerecht und aufgerichtet und groß aus jener harten Hand, die sich, wie formend, an ihn schmiegte. Die Siege laden ihn nicht -ein. Sein Wachstum ist: der Tiefbesiegte von immer Größerem zu sein.

(Rainer Rilke, Berlin-Schmargendorf, Mitte Januar, 1901)

Translation of quote

[Eng]

The Man Watching

...

4. When we win it's with small things,

and the triumph itself makes us small.

What is extraordinary and eternal

does not want to be bent by us.

I mean the Angel who appeared

to the wrestlers of the Old Testament:

when the wrestlers' sinews

grew long like metal strings,

he felt them under his fingers

like chords of deep music.

...

(Translated by Robert Bly, 1981)

1902RilkeRM

1906RilkeRM

External links

Rilke RM. Das Buch der Bilder. Berlin: Axel Juncker Verlag, 1902. [dfg-viewer.de]

Rilke RM. Das Buch der Bilder. Berlin, Leipzig, Stuttgart: Axel Juncker Verlag, 1906. [archive.org]

Bly R. Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke: A Translation from the German and Commentary by Robert Bly. New York: Harper & Row, 1981. [archive.org]

Authors & Affiliations

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), was an Austrian poet and novelist. [wikipedia.org]

Rainer Maria Rilke (18 September 1900) Unknown author; original in the wikimedia.org collection (CC0 – Public Domain, no changes).

Robert Elwood Bly (1926-2021) was an American poet, essayist. [wikipedia.org]

Commentary

The penultimate paragraph of the poem is a reference to the verses of the 32nd chapter of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) 32:24-33:

24 And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over what he had.

25 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

26 And when he saw that he could not pre vail against him, he struck against the hollow of his thigh ; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was put out of joint, as he was wrestling with him.

27 And he said, Let me go, for the day hath dawned. And he said, I will not let thee go until thou hast blessed me.

28 And he said unto him. What is thy name ? and he said, Jacob.

29 And he said, Not Jacob shall any more be called thy name, but Israel ; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

30 And Jacob asked him, and said. Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name ? And he blessed him there.

31 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniёl : for I have seen an angel of God face to face, and my life hath been preserved.

32 And the sun rose unto him as he passed by Penuёl, and he halted upon his thigh.

33 Therefore do the children of Israel not eat the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he struck against the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew that shrank. (from 1922LeeserI)

Leeser I. The twenty-four books of the Holy Scriptures. Carefully translated according to the Massoretic text, on the basis of the English version after the best Jewish authorities and supplied with short explanatory notes by Isaac Leeser. New York: Bloch Pub. Co., 1922. [archive.org]

Keywords

ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, mention, Bible, poetry

NB! Fair practice / use: copied for the purposes of criticism, review, comment, research and private study in accordance with Copyright Laws of the US: 17 U.S.C. §107; Copyright Law of the EU: Dir. 2001/29/EC, art.5/3a,d; Copyright Law of the RU: ГК РФ ст.1274/1.1-2,7

BLOG CONTENT

Imaginative Literature

20th Century

Comments

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