The Complete French Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (Paperback)

~ (Author), A. Poulin (Author), A., Jr. Poulin (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Though renowned for his major works written in German, Rainer Maria Rilke (18751926) is still to be discovered as the author of a sizable oeuvre of French poems. To this day, the majority of his worldwide readership focuses on the Duino Elegies, which he struggled with for ten years (19121922), and Sonnets to Orpheus, a sequence he wrote in eighteen days (1922). The great difference in the length of time he needed to complete these works arose from the following. Nourished by his numerous travels and his vision of Europe as his cultural homeland, his creative powers collapsed under the conditions imposed by World War 1, and were not restored until 1921/22 when he found a secluded domicile in the Swiss Valais. Around 1960, a new generation of readers rediscovered his New Poems (1907/08) and his novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (1910), both of which he wrote while living in Paris. But two significant parts of his work continued to be relatively unknown: his German poems dating from the last years of his life, and some 400 French poems of which all but 28 were written after 1922. Owing to Poulin's dedicated work of translation, a fivevolume series of Rilke's French poems has appeared since 1979. In the new bilingual edition, this series is reprinted, together with a miscellany of occasional poems published for the first time. Though not as rich in semantic and syntactical finesse as the best of his German poetry, Rilke's French poems are refined and subtle. Some of them mirror his exuberance and his relief that once again he was able to write, while in others there lingers a trace of persistent sadness, as in the verses addressed to a rose: "You are left / with us now, sharing, / desperately, this life, this life / where you don't belong." Poulin's English versions capture the essence of the originals, and they are also graceful renditions of their rhythms. The convenience of finding all of Rilke's French poems in one book adds to the attractiveness of this new collection. -- From Independent Publisher

Review

"These are poems of meticulous insight and feeling, rather than the grand themes of universal order and worldly destiny found in Rilke's earlier German work. As such, almost as intellectual ballast, the French poems give new significance and dimension to Rilke's canon." --Chicago Sun Times

"[Poulin] is a deft translator, with sympathy for Rilke's ideas and a nice sense of the rhythm of lines." --The Washington Post

"Rilke's French poems are refined and subtle. Some of them mirror his exuberance and his relief that once again he was able to write, while in others there lingers a trace of persistent sadness, as in the verses addressed to a rose: 'You are left / with us now, sharing, / desperately, this life, this life / where you don't belong.' Poulin's English versions capture the essence of the originals, and they are also graceful renditions of their rhythms. The convenience of finding all of Rilke's French poems in one book adds to the attractiveness of this new collection." --Independent Publisher

"Delight is certainly the feeling one gets from this first comprehensive collection of Rilke's French poetry in translation. Poulin gives us the French and English on facing pages, enabling us to luxuriate in the grace and elegance of Rilke's late repose." --Islander Books

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 383 pages
• Publisher: Graywolf Pr (September 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915308835
• ISBN-13: 978-0915308835
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #598,936 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars French Poetry by a German Poet, January 23, 2001

By A Customer

This book contains very different work from Rilke's German poetry, decidedly French in nature, with ephemeral images and nuanced depictions of the poetic scenes of life. Many of the poems also are constructed with an amazing sense of the meter and scan of the French language and with an extremely precise rhyme of French vowels. The reader of this edition will see an entirely different side to Rilke.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By sheer dint of prayer, I knew bread, May 15, 2000

By	Quinn Tyler Jackson (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

I first read this book when I was eighteen years old, a starving Bohemian (more or less), and at a crossroads in my life.

Years later, I still turn to it, and it sits on my bookshelf, in front of me as I write this review.

If you thought you knew roses before - you may find out, after reading Rilke's French poetry - that you haven't known roses at all. One poem in particular that has followed me through the years has the words: "By sheer dint of prayer, I knew bread."

By sheer dint of this book of verse, you may know roses.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rilke's French poems, June 14, 2007

By	Nancy Peacock "Book lover" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Complete French Poems (Paperback)

Exquisite translations by A. Poulin. A lovely bilingual edition with Poulin's enlightening introduction.