Learn To Be Quiet - Franz Kafka | Loving Poetry

Message 333 of 544

Learn To Be Quiet - Franz Kafka

You need not do anything.
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
You need not even listen, just wait.
You need not even wait,
just learn to be quiet, still and solitary.
And the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked.
It has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

posted by MartiInMexico

I didn't know Kafka wrote poetry.

I have no idea what this means. And the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked.
It has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

My experience with stillness and solitude has been that the world stays nicely away somewhere, not rolling in ecstasy at my feet.

posted by MartiInMexico
about 1 year ago

Kafka the poet? And it's a nice poem, too. Not "kafkaesque" at all.

I agree with marti's observation about stillness, but I do love the image of the world offering itself to me and "rolling in ecstasy at my feet!"

posted by perpetualstudent
about 1 year ago

There is a Zen feeling to the poem . The idea that enlightenment comes to those with a quiet mind seems to be what he means in the last two lines .

posted by Dirck
about 1 year ago

I had a very spiritual friend who died several years ago. I was envious of his ability to get close to God. He advised me to still my soul and it would open to the wonders. Perhaps that's what Kafka means. Don't seek--just wait, quietly and patiently.

If only! I am way too hyper, lol! And "directorial"--I don't like to say "controling."