Wir dürfen dich nicht eigenmächtig malen

We must not protray you in king's robes,
you drifting mist that brought forth the morning.

Once again from the old paintboxes
we take the same gold for scepter and crown
that has disguised you through the ages.

Piously we produce our images of you
till they stand around you like a thousand walls.
And when our hearts would simply open,
our fervent hands hide you.

____________________
Rilke; the Hours, "A Monastic Life," I, 4;