Who, if I cried out, would hear me

Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angelic
orders? And even if one of them pressed me
suddenly to his heart; I'd be consumed
in his stronger existence. For beauty is nothing
but the beginning of terror, which we can just barely endure
and we stand in awe of it as it cooly disdains
to destroy us. Each angel is terrifying.

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
"The First Elegy"
Duino Elegies, 1922