Self-Portrait Comments

The external features of the self-portrait resemble photos of Rilke. The noble family lineage, as with Churchill, brings confidence and the ambition to succeed. The childhood fears are endearing, as is the calm humility and conciseness of one who follows where his art leads, in the service of truth as he sees it. It’s unclear to what ‘succeeding’ (second line of the sestet) refers in this translation, possibly to the remarkable poetic works that Rilke is already planning.