Customer Reviews

Duino Elegies: A Bilingual Edition

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Edward Snow is one of the most respected translators of Rilke. He's been working his way through Rilke's poetry and now offers a superb version of the "Duino Elegies," long considered the high point of Rilke's career.

There are many existing translations of Rilke's masterpiece, of varying quality. Snow's version reads quite well and compares favorably to acclaimed versions by Mitchell and others.

Rilkes Duineser Elegien stehen an der Spitze, was die poetische Schöpfung des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts betrifft. Sie sind ein metaphysisches Nachdenken über den Menschen und die Realität. Rilke überlegt sich die menschliche Bestimmung. Dafür, dass das Leben eine vorübergehende und peinliche Erfahrung ist, zeigt er uns die Engel als ein überbewusstes Wesen. Im Gegensatz zu dem Menschen wohnen sie an einem offenen Raum. Es gelingt Ihnen das Leben und den Tod zu vereinigen.Dort findet das reine Geschehen statt. Wegen ihres selbstlosen Erlebnis sind die Helden, die Liebenden, die Kinder und die früh Verstorbenen nah daran, nach den Ordnungen der Engel zu gelangen.
Die verkündete Nacht ist zu der Schein-Unsichtbar Verwandlung geneigt, weil sie eine tiefere Wahrnehmung ermöglicht. Rilkes poetische Sprache, Rhythmus und Bildnis sind atemlos.

I purchased this book as one of several to read for my Master's degree in poetry. Of the fifteen books I have read thus far, this is absolutely my favorite book. Although I wish I could read the original german, Snow's translation reads flawlessly. The language is beautiful and obviously carefully chosen. It is also interesting to have both the german and the english running side-by-side. The poetry itself is absolutely stunning. Rilke's use of metaphor and synechdoche are brilliant. I highly recommend this book to any poet, or any admirer of the craft.

Yes, Rilke is a genius, whose poetry is abstract and disturbing yet also direct, concise and perfectly written.

Unfortunately, Snow's translation does not manage to capture Rilke's power in full flow, as other translators have managed to do so. The Picador edition is especially superior (although still flawed). By all means buy the Elegies, which are among the best pieces of literature of this century, and possibly the best collection of lyric poetry of all time - but if you buy this edition, you might not realise that.

When I was in college and law school I hardly had any contact with people who would study something because it was poetry. The University of Michigan College of Engineering had its own department of English so engineering students would not be subject to snide comments from literary freaks who thought poetry was a significant component of certain cultures. I am aware of Rilke from an interest in European intellectual history, which combined ironically with curiosity whenever a female minister quoted Rilke in a sermon. As Daphne, since her transfromation into a bay tree, desires that you choose to be changed into wind, I can hardly comment on this further.