Rainer Maria Rilke
author profile
born
December 04, 1875
died
December 29, 1926
place of birth
Prague, Czech Republic
genre
Poetry
influences
Auguste Rodin, Boris Pasternak, André Gide, Lou Andreas-Salomé
about this author
Rainer Maria Rilke is considered one of the German language's greatest 20th century poets.
His haunting images tend to focus on the difficulty of communion with the ineffable in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety — themes that tend to position him as a transitional figure between the traditional and the modernist poets.
He wrote in both verse and a highly lyrical prose. His two most famous verse sequences are the Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies; his two most famous prose works are the Letters to a Young Poet and the semi-autobiographical The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge.
He also wrote more than 400 poems in French, dedicated to his homeland of choice, the canton of Valais i...more
Sign up for Goodreads to pick your favorite quotes and books by Rainer Maria Rilke.
avg rating: 4.36
| 9,550 ratings
| 972 reviews
| 334 distinct works
|
81 fans
More books by Rainer Maria Rilke…
upcoming events
No scheduled events.
"Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love."
— Rainer Maria Rilke
— Rainer Maria Rilke
tags:
love
788 people liked it
"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
— Rainer Maria Rilke
— Rainer Maria Rilke
"Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write."
— Rainer Maria Rilke
— Rainer Maria Rilke
tags:
writing
146 people liked it
topics mentioning this author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Next Best Boo...: Diaries/journals | 27 | 237 | Jun 23, 2009 11:37AM | |
| 50 Books A Year: Melissa's Book List (50 in 2009) | 16 | 59 | Aug 19, 2009 11:10AM | |
| Novel Ladies: What 5 books changed your life? | 66 | 58 | Sep 06, 2009 08:46PM | |
| Novel Ladies: 15 books you will always treasure | 39 | 52 | 26 days ago, 07:59PM |
