Rainer Maria Rilke

Rainer Maria Rilke is considered one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets. His work spans the late 19th and early 20th centuries, bridging the gap between the traditional Romantic era and the rising tide of Modernism. Rilke’s enduring appeal stems from his ability to capture the complexities of human emotion and the search for meaning in an increasingly uncertain world. 

His poetry is characterized by a profound sensitivity to the subtle nuances of language. He explored themes of love, loss, faith, and the nature of existence, often through the use of evocative imagery and symbolism. Rilke’s exploration of inwardness, his focus on subjective experience, and his experimentation with form and language, prefigured many aspects of Modernist poetry. 

His influence can be seen in the works of other poets who grappled with existential questions and sought new modes of expression, including T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, and Marina Ivanova Tsvetaeva. Rilke’s legacy continues to inspire readers and writers today, inviting them to confront the fundamental questions of existence and to find solace and beauty in the face of uncertainty.

A Walk

My eyes already touch the sunny hill.
going far beyond the road I have begun,
So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp;
it has an inner light, even from a distance-
and changes us, even if we do not reach it,
into something else, which, hardly sensing it,
we already are; a gesture waves us on
answering our own wave…
but what we feel is the wind in our faces.

The first-ever English translation of Rilke’s landmark poetry cycle, by Vita and Edward Sackville-West ­– reissued for the first time in 90 years

In 1931, Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press published a small run of a beautiful edition of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies, in English translation by the writers Vita and Edward Sackville-West. This marked the English debut of Rilke’s masterpiece, which would eventually be rendered in English over 20 times, influencing countless poets,musicians and artists across the English-speaking world. 

Published for the first time in 90 years, the Sackville-Wests’ translation is both a fascinating historical document and a magnificent blank-verse rendering of Rilke’s poetry cycle. Featuring a new introduction from critic Lesley Chamberlain, this reissue casts one of European literature’s great masterpieces in fresh light…

Simply amazing……. I must get more of his books…. I adore poetry.