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Begun in 1912 at the castle of Duino near Trieste, these ten Elegies were finally completed, after a decade of sporadic and protracted creation, at the Château Muzot in the Swiss Valais. Rilke considered them his greatest achievement, and, as MacIntyre suggests, they are "among the great and unforgettable poetry of the world."

Rainer Maria Rilke was one of Germany's most important poets. His influences include the paintings of the Worpswedders and the French Impressionists, the sculpture of Rodin (to whom he was both friend and secretary), and the poetry of Baudelaire, Verlaine, Mallarmé, and other symbolists. His poetry is innovative, enigmatic, and entertainingly idiosyncratic. C.F. MacIntyre's translations are both true to the original and poetic in their own right, and in each book he includes an introduction and notes. German text faces the English translation. ... Read more

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Rainer Maria Rilke is arguably the most important modern German-language poet. His New Poems, Duino Elegies, and Sonnets to Orpheus are pillars of 20th-century poetry. Yet his earlier verse is less known. The Book of Hours, written in three bursts between 1899 and 1903, is Rilke's most formative work, covering a crucial period in his rapid ascent from fin-de-siecle epigone to distinctive modern voice. The poems document Rilke's tour of Russia with Lou Andreas-Salome, his hasty marriage and fathering of a child in Worpswede, and his turn toward the urban modernity of Paris. He assumes the persona of an artist-monk undertaking the Romantics' journey into the self, speaking to God as part transcendent deity, part needy neighbor. The poems can be read simply for their luminous lyricism, captured in Susan Ranson's superb new translation, which reproduces the music of the original German with impressive fluidity. An in-depth introduction explains the context of the work and elucidates its major themes, while the poem-by-poem commentary is helpful to the student and the general reader. A translator's note treats the technical problems of rhythm, meter, and rhyme that the translator of Rilke faces, and editor Ben Hutchinson provides an introduction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

wonderful poetry
Unfamiliar with the work of Rilke, I was amazed by this book. After reading it through several times, I now dip into it at random and find some new wonder every time. I found the Introduction and the Commentary and Notes very helpful, the former putting the work in context and showing the poet's development over the course of the book, and the latter adding to my understanding and appreciation of each individual poem.
I believe anyone who enjoys poetry will be delighted by Rilke's music, rich imagery, rhythmic innovation and subtlety of rhyme. You may also be surprised by the "modernity" of the Third Book, written in 1903. The poems are so fluid and feel so spontaneous that one forgets these are in fact translations. ... Read more

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Translated for the first time into English, these diaries offer unique insight into Rilke's development as one of the greatest poets and prose stylists of the 20th century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Rilke enriches my heart, my mind, my life......
Every time I pick up anything by Rilke I am astounded.

I read these works and think, "This is a diary? What if people, years from now published my morning pages notebooks? Hardly the beauty found here."

AND yet in Rilke's words, I find an appreciation not only for him, for his art, for the people who populated his life experience - I also find an extreme appreciation for the connection we all share.

What is exceptionally invigorating about these Diaries is their wide variety of creative expression. There are poems - there are pieces of short fiction - there is a sort of travel narrative and art criticism.

Unlike another reader, I found it highly personal.... Like stepping into the pages of anyone's diary is highly personal.

I found myself singing songs of gratitude for the fact his diaries were saved so that we could enjoy them today, more than one hundred years later.

Ironic and perfect, given that final appraisal by me, to hear this one quote from this book which really sums up Rilke's reflection of life from his pen - "Whoever understands and honors Death grants Life greatness."

More about art than Rilke
I love Rilke, and I bought this expecting something similar to his "Letters to a young poet." However, this book seems less personal- it contains much more of Rilke's reflections on Italian art, in Florence, and on the art of the people around him in Germany. It is perhaps more engaging to someone who knows a great deal about the art he is discussing! There are still wonderful, wonderful Rilke moments, but this may not be the best book for non-artists or for people discovering Rilke for the first time.

Food for the soul
I'm just starting to explore Rilke...this book is wonderful for understanding where he is coming from in his poetry.In this blend ofpoetry, prose, journal-like entries and musings on nature, Rilke takes youon a journey into his own internal world of solitude.I force myself toread slowly and drink it in...it is worth it!I highly recommend thisbook. ... Read more

Product Description
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is widely regarded as the greatest lyric poet of this century. His major achievements--the New Poems, the Sonnets to Orpheus, and the incomparable Duino Elegies--had a powerful impact on European literature and have been the subject of intense scrutiny and increasing acclaim since the poet's death. Only in recent years, however, with the emergence of key documentary material, has it become possible to present the full story of Rilke's life. In A Ringing Glass, Donald Prater's aim is not to add to the preponderance of critical interpretations, but to provide a portrait of the man himself, and to show the background in which Rilke's extraordinary vision developed.

And it is an extraordinary background. Rilke's nomadic existence led him from his birthplace in Prague through Germany, Russian, Spain, Italy, France, and finally Switzerland. He visited Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana, acted for a time as secretary to Rodin, and was a friend of Romain Rolland, Leonid Pasternak, and Walter Rathenau.He was the protege of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis and the lover of Lou Andreas-Salome and Baladine Klossawska. Financially and emotionally, Rilke needed these associations; yet he dedicated himself fully to his art and remained single-minded in his search for the solitude it required. In his correspondence, from which Prater draws extensively, Rilke reveals the tragic conflict between his needs as a man and his goals as a poet.

With this comprehensive biography, readers can delve deeply into the life Rilke built, a life as courageous and rare as the poetry it left behind. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Behold, the man!
Of the three Rilke biographies that I have read (Ralph Freedman and Wolfgang Leppman being the others), this one was the most consistently satisfying.Prater purports to concentrate more on the personal aspects of the poet's life, and, comparatively speaking, I think that he succeeds. There is less of the not always helpful literary commentary in which, for example, Freedman indulges, and by comparison the Leppmann book has more of that snapshot quality about it that seems to be such a tendency now in biographies written by German authors--as examples I am thinking here of Gregor Martin-Dellin's book on Wagner, and Ruediger Safranski's books on Nietzsche and Heidegger.

In this book there is a greater sense of continuity with regard to the inner workings of Rilke's personality and emotional life.And we know that the evidence for that inner life is most rich, and like any other writer dealing with this poet, Prater does not always take everything at face value because of what he describes as Rilke's continuous habit of "self-stylization".If you wish to read and own a single Rilke biography, this is really the one! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A glimpse into the mind of an optimistic writer at the turn of the 20th century
Rilke was born in Prague in 1875 and his parents first thought that he would follow in his father's footsteps and become an army officer. After a stint in military school, he studied the humanities and became a prolific writer and poet. The first section of this book consists of a series of letters written by Rilke to Franz Xaver Kappus, who was an aspiring poet. In those letters, we see some of the writing talent of Rilke as well as a small portrait of a continent in transition. The ten letters from Rilke to Kappus were written from 1903 to 1908, a time when Europe was in the midst of a transition to the modern era. The transition was still in the early stages and it took a major war to execute it, but there are clear indications of change in the air. The final section is a short chronicle of the letters, further explanations of their contents and meaning.
This short book is a look into the mind of a poet who was very good and who saw the world changing around him. However, Rilke was very much a member of the European intelligentsia that existed before World War I and only the early phases of the transition of Western civilization are evident in his writings.
... Read more

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These poems, written in Rilkes less mystical period (1900-1908) show Rilkes deep concern with sculpture and painting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

you must change your life.
I really shouldn't talk about Rilke. I don't know anything about him and I don't think there's anything I can say that could give you that feelingof tenuous teetering warm fragile life that reading Rilke gives me.NewPoems, 1908: The Other Part is the dark partner to his New Poems of 1907. It contains, in my entirely uneducated opinion, his best and his worstwork.Reading some of the stuff in there makes me think about howimportant it is to breathe and to be grateful that, for the moment atleast, I am permitted to do so. ... Read more

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A distinguished poet-translator presents faithful verse translations of 72 poems in a bilingual edition with commentary and biographical material. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

On first looking into Arndt's Rilke
When you first encounter Rilke (probably in your teenage years), you marvel at the modernity of his language, a hundred years after it was written. Intrigued, you start exploring "like some watcher of the skies/ when a new planet swims into his ken". Gradually, you succumb to the incantatory sound and rhythm, the startling subject-object reversals, the transforming and redemptive effect of single lines. By this time, you probably know a number of Rilke poems by heart. As you get older, you become aware of his affectations, his mannerisms, his power to seduce and ensnare. You resist. You start poking holes in his shining armor. You realize that he is easily parodied. Eventually, you may put him aside like a youthful indulgence and concentrate on sterner stuff.

But every so often - on a train ride, at an airport, in a hotel lobby, in a state of suspension or wary expectation - your memory will toss up a line or two from a Rilke poem. Has there ever been a more haunting evocation of captivity than in "The Panther"? Or of the wretched gift of prophecy than in "The Sibyl"? Or of the cruel intrusion of death on ordinary lives than in "Intimation of Reality" and "Coda"? You re-acquaint yourself with the poetry, you re-evaluate, you re-affirm.

A translator has to go through all these stages in order to arrive at an intimate understanding of the poet and his work. Arndt's commentary indicates that he has completed the cycle and is ready for the much more difficult task of rendering Rilke's poetry into another language. Readers of this volume are confronted not only with Rilke, but also with the deeper problems of interpretation and the inevitable compromise required by translation. There is bound to be some dissatisfaction; but the effort will be richly rewarded.

Admirable Effort, Not the Best Translation
Rilke is rapidly becoming one of the most popular poets in America -- no mean feat, considering he wrote in German! But the recognition is well deserved. Few poets can match the easy beauty of Rilke's thought, or the immediate accessibility of his poems. If you are looking to increase your appreciation of poetry (or would like to give a book to someone whom you think should), then Rilke makes a good start as any.

So there are only two questions: what book of Rilke's poetry (he was a rather prolific chap) and what translator?

Arndt's selection answers your first question for you. The selection is a good one, with most of the favourites (including "The Panther", "Pieta", etc.). Unfortunately, the translations leave quite a lot to be desired. Ardnt (who made a name for himself translating Pushkin and is a scholar of Russian - not German) attempts to retain the form of Rilke's poems (Rilke wrote structured, rhymed verse). He thus delivers lines of rhymed iambic pentamenter. Unfortunately, this means that while the poems sound nice and flow nicely, much of the beauty of Rilke's thoughts and words is lost to the necessity of form.

A particularly gruesome example is the way Arndt renders one of my favorites, "Liebes-Lied" (Love Song). Rilke's wonderful ending: "O susses Lied" (O sweet song)

ends up being translated as "O sweet the lilt", in order for it to rhyme with an earlier line ending with "tilt". Several other lines suffer along the way as well.

So, if you really want the form retained and you're willing to sacrifice a bit for it, then go for this book. Otherwise, if you want a translation that does justice to Rilke, I would suggest Edward Snow's translations, which do not retain the form, but are elegant and very true to the original German (they are also bilingual). Go for his translation of "New Poems 1907", which includes most of the good ones from this collection, including Love Song, Pieta, The Panther, and others. Unlike Arndt, Snow is an expert on Rilke, and one quickly learns to appreciate that.

Great introduction to Rilke!
Looking to learn more about and increase my enjoyment of poetry, I was very happy to find this volume of Rilke's work.In addition to having what appears to be very masterful translations, it has the German and Englishtext of each of his poems on facing pages.This makes this book excellentfor those wishing to practice or polish their German.

I was very happywith this purchase, and look forward to reading more of Rilke's work in thefuture.

The Best of Rilke
The Best of Rilke is a wonderfully put together publicationof his poetry. The poems are beautiful in German and English. In some of the poems, the book also offers multiple translations that each give a slightlydifferent view on the poem. I am a student in German IB, in junior high,and I found this book very easy to use and well-translated. I wouldrecommend this book for anyone who is interested in Rilke's works.

No other translations come close
By far and away the best translations of the works of Rilke I have yet seen. I hope that Arndt translates more of Rilke's work, as the other translations I have found are pretty poor. While no translation is exact,Arndt retains the meter and ryhme, thus retaining the poetic form ofRilke's work. Reading "Pieta", and "The Orphan's Song"will bring tears to your eyes and an appreciation of the genius of bothRilke and Arndt. ... Read more