Three Sisters

The Sisters

Look how the same possibilities
unfold in their opposite demeanors,
as though one saw different ages
passing through two identical rooms.

Each thinks that she props up the other,
while resting wearily on her support;
and they can't make use of one another,
for they cause blood to rest on blood,

when as in the former times they softly touch
and try, along the tree-lined walks,
to feel themselves conducted and to lead;
ah, the ways they go are not the same.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Sisterhood is one of the most delightful things in all of life. It is also difficult, as Rilke shows us here: relationship requires sameness and difference and in sisters, the sameness and difference are both extreme. He uses the metaphor of different ages (this is incredibly disparate--different ages can barely even be compared with one another) passing through identical rooms. You can't get more the same than identical. This captures the immensely different personalities passing through very similar structures, persons bound by blood.


The second stanza points to the limits of family and tradition. Finally, while sisters think that they are supporting the other, blood can't hold up blood. This points the need for friendship and for other traditions to supplement your own. The last stanza captures the pain of change, particularly in families where changing can lead one to be perceived as a traitor.


When I was young, my parents pointed out the constellation called the three sisters in the sky (this, I've lately discovered was a conflation of the seven sisters with Orion's belt, three bright stars approximately evenly spaced). But it's a nice myth, and I think I'll keep on sharing it with other people.