I originally came across this poem, on a co-workers' desk in 1999:

<blockquote>
Again and again
Some people in the crowd wake up.
They have no ground in the crowd
And they emerge according to broader laws.
They carry strange customes with them,
and demand room for bold gestures.
The future speaks ruthlessly through them.
</blockquote>

After a bit of searching, I found the poem is widely attributed (on
the net) to German poet Rainer Maria Rilke.   The quote has sparked me
to "discover" Rilke, but I've never come across this quote in print.

So here's my request:
I am looking for a citation to the source (such as a published
collection of poems or even a personal letter) for the poem above. 
When was it written and is the author indeed Rilke?

Hello.

A web site indicates that a book called "Life Against Death" (1985) by
Norman O. Brown cites the quotation to Rilke?s 1899 essay "Über
Kunst."

See: 

'For example, in the chapter "Art and Eros" Brown quotes the following
passages from Rilke?s 1899 essay "Ueber Kunst," containing ideas and
images that I still find inspiring:
  "Again and again someone in the crowd wakes up, he has no ground in
the crowd, and he emerges according to much broader laws. He carries
strange customs with him and demands room for bold gestures. The
future speaks ruthlessly through him."'
http://www.serve.com/BAKE/3-34a.htm

Againt, there is apparently a citation "Über Kunst" (1899) in the "Art
and Eros" chapter in Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytical Meaning
of History
by Norman Oliver Brown 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0819561444/

My German skills are not strong, but clearly the same quotation
appears on a web site devoted to Rilke.  Again, the citation is to
"Über Kunst" (1899).

"Die Geschichte ist das Verzeichnis der Zufrühgekommenen. Da wacht
immer wieder einer in der Menge auf, der in ihr keine Ursache hat und
dessen Erscheinen sich in breiteeren Gesetzen begründet. Er bringt
fremde Gebäuche mit und fordert Raum für unbescheidene Gebärden. So
wächst eine Gewaltsamkeit aus ihm un ein Wille, der über Furcht und
Ehrfurcht wie über Steine schreitet. Rücksichtslos redet Zukünftiges
durch ihn...
...Aus: Über Kunst (1899)"
http://rilke.de/adventskalender/11.htm

If you don't read German, you can run that through any machine
translation site (e.g., http://babelfish.altavista.com/ ) and you'll
see that it roughly corresponds to your quotation.

-------
search strategy:
"future speaks ruthlessly"
"Über Kunst", 1899, site:rilke.de

Thanks!

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 27 Aug 2004 01:33 PDT

Sorry for that typo in the middle of my answer:

"Again, there is apparently a citation to "Über Kunst" (1899) ..."

Many thanks Juggler... just what I wanted to know.

Thank you for the tip.
-juggler