XXI
Cela ne te donne-t-il pas le vertige
de tourner autour de toi sur ta tige
pour te terminer, rose ronde?
Mais quand ton propre élan t’inonde,
tu t’ignores dans ton bouton.
C’est un monde qui tourne en rond
pour que son calme centre ose
le rond repos de la ronde rose.

XXI
Doesn’t it make you dizzy, rose,
to spin on your stem around yourself
ending in your round self ?
Overwhelmed by your own momentum
you forget the bud that is you.
It’s a world that whirls around,
daring its calm center to hold
the round repose of the round rose.

Rainer Maria Rilke (c 1926) From his series “Les Roses”, Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche,
5:4, 17-21. Translated from French by Susanne Petermann (2011).