The Essential Rilke - Hardcover

Rilke, Rainer Maria; Kinnell, Galway; Liebmann, Hannah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0880016760 ISBN 13: 9780880016766

Publisher: Ecco, 1999

Synopsis

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell and co-translator Hannah Liebmann comes The Essential Rilke, with newly translated selections of the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke and an informative introduction. This collection also features all of the poems in their original German on facing pages.

German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) enjoys ever-increasing popularity. His Duino Elegies is generally considered one of the greatest long poems of the twentieth century. The Essential Rilke includes all the celebrated Duino Elegies as well as a number of shorter poems--the favorites and the less familiar. Throughout his poetry, Rilke addresses questions of how to live and relate to the world in a voice that is simultaneously prophetic and intensely personal. Kinnell and Liebmann's translations put accuracy first and yet retain the power and grace of poetry.

The Essential Rilke adds a valuable bilingual edition to Ecco's popular The Essential Poets series and these translations offer new insight into this complex German poet whose work is read and admired throughout the world.

About this title

About the Author:

One of the most widely read modern poets, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) first became known and respected with the publication of The Book of Hours, when he was in his twenties. He is now most famous for his Letters to a Young Poet, published during the same time, which continues to inspire generations of writers.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

From a Childhood

The darkening was like riches in the room
in which the boy sat, almost hidden from sight.
And when his mother entered, as in a dream,
a glass trembled in the quiet cupboard.
She felt how the room betrayed her,
and she kissed the boy: "Oh, you're here? . . ."
Then both looked fearfully at the piano,
because some evenings she'd play the child a song
in which he found himself strangely deeply caught.

He sat very still. His great gaze hung
on her hand, weighed down by its ring,
as if struggling through drifted snow
it went over the white keys.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ecco
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0880016760
• ISBN 13: 9780880016766
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176