These poems, selected from Das Buch der Bilder and the two parts of
Neue Gedichte, show Rilke's deep concern with sculpture and painting.
Written in his less mystical period (1900-1908), the poems exhibit
Rilke's particular artistic and poetic power.
Rainer Maria Rilke
was one of Germany's most important poets. His influences include the
paintings of the Worpswedders and the French Impressionists, the
sculpture of Rodin (to whom he was both friend and secretary), and
the poetry of Baudelaire, Verlaine, Mallarmé, and other symbolists.
His poetry is innovative, enigmatic, and entertainingly
idiosyncratic. C.F. MacIntyre's translations are both true to the
original and poetic in their own right, and in each book he includes
an introduction and notes. German text faces the English translation.