Rilke's Apollo

“It is one thing to be asked to carry a cabbage across the street, quite another to be asked to carry the recently unearthed head of Rilke’s Apollo” (77).

Rilke’s Apollo, though it appears to be a statue, is actually a poem, “Torso of an Archaic Apollo.” Cunningham creates a weighted comparison between an ordinary cabbage and a literary statue. Rilke’s Apollo, if ever found, would be a great honor to carry, while a cabbage is merely a cabbage. The comparison is used to explain how Mrs. Brown’s son, Richie, is treating the cup of flour that he is holding with reverence.

Works Cited:
http://www.polyamory.org/~howard/Poetry/rilke_archaic_apollo.html