| Margarete Münsterberg, ed., trans. A Harvest of German Verse. 1916. | | | | The Last Supper | | By Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) |
| | | HERE they are gathered, wondering and deranged, | |
| Round Him, who wisely doth Himself inclose, | |
| And who now takes Himself away, estranged, | |
| From those who owned Him once, and past them flows. | |
| He feels the ancient loneliness to-day | 5 |
| That taught Him all His deepest acts of love; | |
| Now in the olive groves He soon will rove, | |
| And these who love Him all will flee away. | |
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| To the last supper table He hath led. | |
| As birds are frightened from a garden-bed | 10 |
| By shots, so He their hands forth from the bread | |
| Doth frighten by His word: to Him they flee; | |
| Then flutter round the table in their fright | |
| And seek a passage from the hall. But He | |
| Is everywhere, like dusk at fall of night. | 15 | | | |
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