The Duino Elegies (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture) [Hardcover]

Rainer Maria Rilke (Author), Leslie Norris (Translator), Alan Keele (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture | Publication Date: May 2, 1993

Rilke's great cycle of ten elegies, perhaps his most profound poetic achievement, had its inception on the morning of January 21, 1912, but was interrupted by the First World War and not completed until a decade later. The Duino Elegies are not only the result of an extraordinary kind of contact with the unseen world; they are an attempt to understand that world in its holistic relationship to the visible, tangible world. This powerful rendering of the cycle is a product of the collaboration between a poet, Norris, and a Germanist, Keele.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Duino Elegies: 1
Duino Elegies: 10
Duino Elegies: 2
Duino Elegies: 3
Duino Elegies: 4
Duino Elegies: 5
Duino Elegies: 6
Duino Elegies: 7
Duino Elegies: 8
Duino Elegies: 9
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Hardcover: 285 pages
• Publisher: Camden House (May 2, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879751011
• ISBN-13: 978-1879751019
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,402,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, July 14, 2000

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Ricardo Signes "rjbs" (Bethlehem, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Duino Elegies, Bilingual edition (University of North Carolina studies in the Germanic languages & literatures, no. 81) (Paperback)

"For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror we can just barely endure, and we admire it so because it calmly disdains to destroy us. Every angel is terrible." - Rainer Maria Rilke, First Elegy

The Duino Elegies are quite possibly the greatest work of Rainer Maria Rilke, himself one of the greatest poets, German language or otherwise, of all time. The elegies, writen in the cold vast chambers of Duino Castle, deal with all the greatest issues of human existence: love, death, tragedy, God, and life's very meaning. Their language reflects their origin: like the Castle's empty stone hallways, the words are perfectly formed; they are fragile and beautiful; weightless and profound. Rilke's first elegy begins with a reflection on the awesome, terrifying power of beauty. He longs to experience it, but knows that it would destroy him. As he writes on, the reader grows to understand and feel not only Rilke's longing, but his fear. The terrible beauty, looming behind all the elegies, is present in the text. The poems inspire wonder, raise profound quetions with ineffable answers, and fills us with awe as it calmly disdains to destroy us.

The German text is perfect, but MacIntyre's translation is splendid and best conveys the work's haunting and desolate undertones. While it seems to me that everyone should own and cherish the Duino Elegies, it is an absolute requirement for anyone seeking to construct a serious collection of great poetry.