The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke: Bilingual Edition (English and German Edition)

"Oh gather it, Angel, that small-flowered herb of healing,Create a vase and preserve it. Set it among the joysnot yet open to us; on that lovely urnpraise it with the ornately flowing inscription: "Subrisio Saltat."Rainier Maria Rilke surely was touched by an angel, and through his magnificent poems, so are we. Stephen Mitchell seems to have been touched also by these great spirits when he translated and interpreted almost 300 pages of Rilke's poems and other writings. This generous-hearted book includes selections from Rilke's major works: The Book of Hours; The Book of Pictures; New Poems; Requiem; Uncollected Poems (1913-1918); The Duimo Elegies; The Sonnets to Orpheus; Uncollected Poems (1923-1926);and The Notebooks of Malte Lauris Brigge (prose).Gloriously, all of the Elegies are given. ("Oh gather it, Angel" is from the Fifth Elegy, dedicated to Frau Hertha Koenig.) One can hardly read these, particularly the selections from the "Sonnets to Orpheus," suffused with Rilke's feelings associated with the too-early death of a young girl, without trembling.This book offers riches upon riches:--A wise, informative introductory essay, "Looking for Rilke," by Robert Hass--The poems themselves, in German and English on facing pages--45 pages of notes with many translations of Rilke's letters about the poems--a title & first line index in German and another title & first line index in EnglishThe poetry is of profound beauty in both languages. Some believe Rilke may have been the greatest of poets writing in German. Reading the poems aloud in German can help convey one aspect---the play of sound on/in the ear---even if we're not fluent in Rilke's first language. (Later, he wrote in French.) However, Mitchell's wonderful poems in English capture Rilke's voice, the complexity and humanity of his thoughts, and his amazing images. Mitchell gives us the cadence, the style (including Rilke's own changes over the years), and the darkness, angers, longings, questionings, depths & heights of Rilke's feelings.Reader alert: Could other translations be made? Sure, but perhaps not as true to the beauty and power of Rilke, so splendid is Mitchell's achievement. Yet this is a 1982 book, reprinted in 1989 by Vintage International. There are later translations and what some future poet/translator may achieve, who can say? In some places---a very few, in my opinion---perhaps the English word-net has not quite caught the nuances of Rilke's thought. Other reviewers might see more instances, still others none.A reminder too that these are selections from Rilke: parts, not the whole of his work. Some readers may find their favorites missing.For me, Stephen Mitchell's "The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke" is a treasure almost beyond measure----and at used book prices, an outstanding value.Most highly recommended.

"You are not my favorite poet. That implies comparison. You are poetry itself." in a letter from Marina Tseteyeva to Rilke.Since I do not speak German, I can speak neither to the accuracy of translation nor interpretation (realizing that they are separate concepts). But I can tell you that this keeps me coming back for more (so much so I have 2 copies, plus a hardback, which differs slightly in content). It's the sort of book that if I loan it, I'm astonished to get it back. And don't really mind.Mitchell has included in his notes excerpts from diaries and letters which I otherwise would never have had the joy of knowing, nor insght into not only the heart of the poet, but the heart of God as well.Mitchell also has the integrity to refrain from attempting to translate some works which, I believe, he would have otherwise loved to share. His rationale, from the intro to the "Notes" section, follows:"Translating poems into equivalent formal patterns is to some extent a matter of luck, or grace, and this is especially true of rhymed poems. Rilke called rhyme "a goddess of secret and ancient coincidences" and said that "she is very capricious; one cannot summon or foresee her; she comes as happiness comes, hands filled with the achievement that is already in flower." Some of my favorite poems never got beyond a rough draft, because that sweet goddess refused to make even the briefest appearance."This poetry is a love letter to life, no matter what an acedemic might say about the relative merits of the translation/ interpretation. Reading Rilke, I understand why Jung (I think it was Jung) said, "Everywhere I go, I find the poet is there before me." (or words to that effect) Enjoy.

I do not understand why people write idiotic book reviews. Have they never read a book before? I was looking for this particular edition because I lost my previous one. It is a bilingual edition which was what I wanted because I write and speak German but I wanted this particular edition by Stephen Mitchell because it is formatted with Rilke's poetry on the left and the English translation on the right and sometimes I like to reference the English translation. One reviewer complained about Mitchell's translation. As a linguist, I have to point out there is no possible way for a translator to translate poetry beautifully and accurately. One cannot capture the nuances, alliteration, cadence, rhythm, rhyme scheme, exact meaning of words, etc. It is just a reference only. I would say this is a nice presentation of one of the greatest metaphysical poets. Anyone who likes Rilke will find this a lovely book and well worth the money.

This book contains a lot of Rilke's poetry and notes. If you already love Rilke's works then this is almost like an encyclopedia of his life and work in my opinion. For someone not familiar with Rilke, or someone who doesn't want to delve too deeply into his work, then this book might be a bit too much. But for people like me, just having this book in my personal library, I know it will be there when I need it. I love to read, but due to some health issues it's hard for me to read much. But little by little I'm reading more, so having great books that lift my spirit and connect me to my humanity makes reading very nice indeed. And lastly, (I almost forgot) Stephen Mitchell is extraordinary at translating and understanding the poetry. I can't say enough about how wonderful his work is.

This version is extremely low quality. I have some print on demand titles and the text is at least readable. The text in this book is often blurry, smudged, very dark ink, then some very light ink, like a very bad photocopy. Make sure to check the version you are ordering. Do not purchase the print on demand version. Stick with Kindle or a decent copy of the original version.

Stephen Mitchell and Rikle are a match made in heaven. Mitchell's English renditions of the Austrian poet's masterpieces, in the German language, are simply top class and read more like original poems than translations.

The book, the translation and the print was great. Rilke is... Exquisite.

I've always liked Rilke's writings and this book brings me to some of the best poems ever written. Highly recommended if you're into literature.

Was recommended this author, hadn’t come across him or his writings. A delightful read with German translation. Made for a welcome surprise. His writings are divine