Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rainer Maria Rllke is a poem of
the viewer taking in a destroyed statue of the god Apollo. The speaker analyzes
the statue in its beheaded form and imagines the life of the statue in its
original state. He is absolutely absorbed in this statue and finds it pleasing
to be lost in its beauty. The structure of the poem is appealing, beginning
with the legendary head that is not there and working descriptively down the
statue. The speaker brings life into the statue if the statue still had a head.
The last line in the third verse, “would not glisten like a wild beast’s fur,”
indicates the statue has lost its fierce life. The last verse reads to me that
the god Apollo is beyond this earthly world as if he has “burst” from the
statue. The last line is definitely a curveball, “you must change your life.”
Is this a moment of realization for the speaker to become something more
inspired from this statue?
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