Duino Elegies [Paperback]

Rainer Maria Rilke (Author), David Young (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393328848 | ISBN-13: 978-0393328844 | Publication Date: June 12, 2006 | Edition: Bilingual

One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

We have a marvelous, almost legendary, image of the circumstances in which the composition of this great poem began. Rilke was staying at a castle (Duino) on the sea near Trieste. One morning he walked out on the battlements and climbed down to where the rocks dropped sharply to the sea. From out of the wind, which was blowing with great force, Rilke seemed to hear a voice: Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen? (If I cried out, who would hear me up there, among the angelic orders?). He wrote these words, the opening of the first Duino Elegy, in his notebook, then went inside to continue what was to be his major work and one of the literary masterpieces of the century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...masterly and life-changing. Probably the most extraordinary poems I have read in years." Ben Okri, New Statesman"

About the Author

Rainer Maria Rilke was born in Prague in 1875. After a motley education at military and business schools and at Prague's Charles University, he traveled in Europe, Russia, Egypt, and Tunsinia. In addition to Rilke's works include Letters to a Young Poet, Sonnets to Orpheus, Duino Elegies, The Book of Pictures, Poems from the Book of Hours, New Poems, and The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge. Rilke died in 1926.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton; Bilingual edition (June 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393328848
• ISBN-13: 978-0393328844
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,193,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Angels are terrible, July 15, 2011

By 

Guillermo Maynez (Mexico, Distrito Federal Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Duino Elegies (Paperback)

The "Duino Elegies" were composed during ten years by Rilke, a man of profound sensibility who, in spite of being a recluse by vocation, had many friends. All known testimonies picture him as a kind and generous man. These, his most famous poems, have an extraordinary beauty: taking as starting point the figure of Angels ("All Angels are terrible"), he reflects on love, the intensity and difficulty of lovers' relationships, youth and its slow descent into old age and death, the life of human beings, trees, flowers; identity and its changing forms in consciousness. As its name indicates, it is a melancholy work, but not desperate. Poetry flows in a spiral, returnin time and again to its central themes, with flights towards extasis and descents into resignation ebfore death and incommunication. Here you can appreciate the magisterial lyricism of this great German poet, born in Prague.

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you!, December 25, 2011

By 

David Lidov - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duino Elegies (Paperback)

I came to this translation of the Duino Elegies without knowledge of any other and with just a smattering of German. Of Rilke, I knew just a few short lyrics. It was a challenging and disturbing experience and, finally, a very lofty one to traverse the world offered us here. The English, considered on its own, has a wonderful melody not revealed quickly, for the style is subtle and understated. To those who don't know the work, this edition, with the original and the English on facing pages offers a wonderful opportunity to add a masterpiece to their storehouse.