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Dear colleagues, Can anyone here help a PhD student researching the work of Peter Maxwell Davies who has come to me with a question about the source of a reference to Rilke? In his comments on "Vesalii Icones", Davies writes: I was also conscious of an image in a Rilke poem, where he mentions the human soul as the strings of an extremely tight-stringed instrument stretched to breaking point being played incessantly. It has been suggested that he might have had this in mind from "Liebeslied": Doch alles, was uns anrührt, dich und mich, nimmt uns zusammen wie ein Bogenstrich, der aus zwei Saiten eine Stimme zieht. but the image does not correspond very well. Does anyone have any better suggestions? Perhaps I should add that the student tells me that Davies' memory sometimes plays tricks with him - he apparently once referred to the coast of Normandy when he actually meant the River Arno - so, I suppose, it need not necessarily be Rilke. George? Hofmannsthal? Many thanks Alan Deighton ---------------------------------------- Alan R Deighton Email: [log in to unmask] University of Hull