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Duino Elegies

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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.

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.