I was just reading Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus. I hadn’t noticed before that, among all his great accomplishments, Rilke must be counted the originator of the most characteristic cliché of our time, the one about lemons and lemonade. Or rather, in Rilke’s telling,
Ist dir Trinken bitter, werde Wein.
If the drinking is bitter, become wine.
Common Infirmities 