The poem “Autumn Day”, although included in the collection, which is not determining the work of Rilke, however, it is loved by many. Several translations into Russian are available.
Rainer Maria Rilke describes – rather even praises – the season of change, the time of closing old doors and opening new ones. In the very first lines, one is relieved that the time of autumn has finally come.
Rilke turns to God, though it does not look like a request or a prayer. It seems more like a friendly conversation with someone who has been a patient and attentive interlocutor for many years.
The theme of the whole poem is in two words: “Lord, it’s time.” This phrase displays all thoughts of time. It is she who is a lyrical hero. For Rilke, time is a delayed summer, it is time to harvest a ripened crop, it is the shadow of an arrow on a sundial. Time is here – and the epilogue that led to the long-awaited end, and the ellipsis, promising the continuation of lonely days.
The entire literary heritage of Rilke is written in the direction of modernism, and more specifically – symbolism. The size of the work in the original is five-foot iambus, and in its genre refers to lyric poetry.
The whole plot of the poem is in the solitude of everyone, in the humility with which a person relates to the inevitable cycle in nature. The mood of the work is melancholic, but not dejected. For the author, autumn is a favorite time. She fits perfectly into the life, worldview of Rilke with its gardens, parks and loneliness. So the author feels especially comfortable at this time of year.