Darkness of night, out of which I came,

I love you more than the flame

that circumscribes the world

by lending gleam,

who knows, to an orbit's circle,

beyond whose bounds we come up against the unknown.

Darkness confines all things embraced tight,

figures, flames, animals, me,

pulled into her sphere:

powers, people.

And as the senses flare it could be

that sheer force stirs near.

I believe in the night.

Rainer Maria Rilke. From 'The Book of Monkish Life', first book of The Book of Hours. Trans. Susan Ranson. New York: Camden House, 2008.