Fifty Poems - by Rainer Maria Rilke (Paperback)

About the Book

"50 poems by Rainer Maria Rilke newly translated into English"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Fresh, beautiful new translations of one of the most important poets of all time, publishing in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Rainer Maria Rilke's birth.

Rilke is one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century, revered throughout the world. Geoffrey Lehmann has selected fifty of Rilke's finest poems from the two volumes of New Poems, considered the center of gravity of Rilke's achievement. Lehmann's refined ear and perfect mastery of English verse form give his renderings of Rilke a precision and poise equal to that of the German originals. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Rilke's birth, a master poet lives anew.

Review Quotes

"The New Poems are for me Rilke's greatest poems, written under the shadow of 'mon grand ami Auguste Rodin' to whom their second volume was dedicated. They are 'method' poems. Not waiting for inspiration, but taking the handicraft of a poem, and setting himself subjects, the way a shoemaker might, or a sculptor. 'Thing-poems, ' Dinggedichte, poems about things, but also poems that are 'a thing.' The two volumes are, in my view, two of the most beautifully made poetic sequences ever." --Michael Hofmann

"In Rilke not only do the stones and trees become human--as they have done always and everywhere poems have been made--but humans become things and nameless beings and only then gain their ultimate humanity." --Robert Musil

About the Author

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is one of the greatest lyric German poets. Born in Prague, he published his first book of poems, Leben und Lieber, at age nineteen. He met Lou Salomé, the talented and spirited daughter of a Russian army officer, who influenced him deeply. In 1902 he became the friend, and for a time the secretary, of Rodin, and it was during his twelve-year Paris residence that Rilke enjoyed his greatest poetic activity. In 1919 he went to Switzerland where he spent the last years of his life. It was there that he wrote his last two works, Duino Elegies (1923) and The Sonnets to Orpheus (1923).

Geoffrey Lehmann is an Australian translator, lawyer, and children's author. He lives in New South Wales.