false 205134 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 205134 20 1210412 1944 Sonnets to Orpheus total:239|5:132|4:67|3:33|2:7|1:0| 239 1041 360 21 7906 4.36 9877 1006 22729557 600126 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.35 152 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 2 false Wed May 21 21:04:10 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 21:15:40 -0700 2008
Art. Death. Essential identity. The possibility of Being. I am blown away.]]> 540227 46028 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 3 1 false Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Mon Apr 02 19:18:50 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 02 19:19:39 -0700 2007 3740626 233823 205136 1590301528 9781590301524 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673272m/205136.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673272s/205136.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205136.Sonnets_to_Orpheus_Bilingual_Edition 3.83 6 Sonnets to Orpheus is one of the great poetic works of the twentieth century. Willis Barnstone brings these striking poems into English with an approach honed through years of work on the philosophy of translation, about which he has written extensively. This dual-language edition allows readers to compare versions face-to-face to get a clear sense of the nuances of the translation. Also included is an extensive introduction from the translator that offers a biographical sketch of Rilke and reflects upon the ever-present tension between the poet's passion for life, romance, and adventure, and his yearning for the solitude he desperately needed to dedicate himself fully to his art.]]> 1944 2 0 false Sun Jul 29 08:23:41 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 29 10:50:32 -0700 2007
Orpheus as 'recipient' of the works can be considered quite literally, and the lyric form acting upon such originary and definitive musical identities as well. Yet music here flexes beyond its traditional boundaries, in that (natural) soun...more...]]> 74081129 660299 2005438 0520010698 9780520010697 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2005438.Sonnets_to_Orpheus_Bilingual_edition 5.00 2 Sonnets to Orpheus is a series of fifty-five brilliant and affirmative songs.]]> 1944 5 0 false Sat Oct 10 10:35:09 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 10:42:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 70269865 638550 979645 0877738742 9780877738749 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/979645.SONNETS_TO_ORPHEUS 3.50 2
Rilke revived and transformed the traditional sonnet sequence in the Sonnets. Instead of centering on love for a particular person, as has many other sonneteers, he wrote an extended love poem to the world, celebrating such diverse things as mirrors, dogs, fruit, breathing, and childhood. Many of the sonnets are addressed to two recurrent figures: the god Orpheus (prototype of the poet) and a young dancer, whose death is treated elegiacally.

These ecstatic and meditative lyric poems are a kind of manual on how to approach the world - how to understand and love it. David Young's is the first most sensitive of the translations of this work, superior to other translations in sound and sense. He captures Rilke's simple, concrete, and colloquial language, writing with a precision close to the original.]]> 1944 2 0 false Sun Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 13:22:21 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 13:22:21 -0700 2009
This book was a gift from someone special who wanted me to enjoy poetry. Instead I find some of the most absurd comparisons and metaphors for love and lovers that I've come across.
...more...]]> 41007577 1835200 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 0 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1990 Sat Dec 27 09:21:24 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 09:23:40 -0800 2008 50555385 2165104 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Thu Mar 26 16:31:26 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 16:31:54 -0700 2009 16688036 936294 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 4 0 false Fri Feb 29 08:36:03 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 29 08:59:54 -0800 2008
A guest poet who visited my college read a few of them in German which is what inspired me to read ...more...]]> 49993434 1538119 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 0 false Mon Apr 20 20:56:29 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 17:00:35 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 20:56:29 -0700 2009
#20:

...O wie unfasslich entfernt.

Schicksal, es misst uns vielleicht mit des Seienden Spanne,
dass es uns fremd erscheint;
denk, wieviel Spannen allein vom Madchen zum Manne,
wenn es ihn meidet und meint.]]> 48592381 1938601 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 2 0 false Sun Mar 08 08:33:58 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 08 08:40:39 -0700 2009 I cannot just be down to translation but something more endemic.
It is as though his critical faculties were on vacation, and what he writes i...more...]]> 9312151 623131 1927098 0393309320 9780393309324 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1190432730m/1927098.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1190432730s/1927098.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1927098.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.00 13
Rilke revived and transformed the traditional sonnet sequence in the Sonnets. Instead of centering on love for a particular person, as has many other sonneteers, he wrote an extended love poem to the world, celebrating such diverse things as mirrors, dogs, fruit, breathing, and childhood. Many of the sonnets are addressed to two recurrent figures: the god Orpheus (prototype of the poet) and a young dancer, whose death is treated elegiacally.

These ecstatic and meditative lyric poems are a kind of manual on how to approach the world - how to understand and love it. David Young's is the first most sensitive of the translations of this work, superior to other translations in sound and sense. He captures Rilke's simple, concrete, and colloquial language, writing with a precision close to the original.]]> 1944 5 0 false Mon Nov 19 11:14:51 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 19 11:16:39 -0800 2007 48149928 296982 297446 086547611X 9780865476110 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173490653m/297446.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173490653s/297446.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/297446.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.55 20 Breathing, you invisible poem!
World-space in pure continuous interchange
with my own being. Equipose
in which I rhythmically transpire.

Written only four years before Rilke's death, this sequence of sonnets, varied in form yet consistently structured, stands as the poet's final masterwork. In these meditations on the constant flux of our world and the ephemerality of experience, Rilke envisions death not only as one among many of life's transformations but also as an ideally receptive state of being. Because Orpheus has visited the realm of death and returned to the living, his lyre, a unifying presence in these poems, is an emblem of fluidity and musical transcendence. And Eurydice, condemned to Hades as a result of Orpheus's backward glance, becomes in Rilke's universe a mythical figure of consolation and hope.

Edward Snow, in his translations of New Poems, The Book of Images, Uncollected Poems, and Duino Elegies, has emerged as Rilke's most able English-language interpreter. Adhering faithfully to the intent of Rilke's German while constructing nuanced, colloquial poems in English, Snow's Sonnets to Orpheus should serve as the authoritative translation for years to come.
</div>]]> 1944 4 0 false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 15:40:06 -0800 2009 Mon Apr 06 16:43:01 -0700 2009 4689800 279415 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 0 false Fri Aug 17 07:58:40 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 17 05:39:22 -0800 2009 1106549 78623 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 0 false Tue May 08 14:18:32 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 16 19:07:39 -0800 2009 5564269 74035 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 0 false Mon Sep 03 00:52:40 -0700 2007 Mon Feb 09 14:07:43 -0800 2009 4725420 288754 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 4 0 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Aug 18 04:54:11 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 17 05:46:16 -0800 2009 9084308 198192 205152 0520229223 9780520229228 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673298m/205152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673298s/205152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205152.Sonnets_to_Orpheus_Bilingual_Edition 3.80 5 Duino Elegies that had occupied him intermittently for a decade, Sonnets to Orpheus is a series of fifty-five brilliant and affirmative songs. It is in a sense a spontaneous creative dividend generated by a larger work. Because the sonnets were written only four years before Rilke's death, they belong properly to his final and philosophic period, and offer a sharp and striking contrast to the less mystical Das Buch der Bilder and Neue Gedichte.
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.]]> 1944 2 0 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 13 20:01:35 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 13 20:02:33 -0800 2007 13277239 820667 205134 0393328856 9780393328851 13 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271m/205134.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673271s/205134.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205134.Sonnets_to_Orpheus 4.36 239 One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the Sonnets to Orpheus were "perhaps the most mysterious…in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed." With facing-page German.]]> 1944 5 0 false Wed Jan 23 09:41:15 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 09:41:46 -0800 2008 21045830 95618 205136 1590301528 9781590301524 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673272m/205136.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172673272s/205136.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205136.Sonnets_to_Orpheus_Bilingual_Edition 4.36 239 Sonnets to Orpheus is one of the great poetic works of the twentieth century. Willis Barnstone brings these striking poems into English with an approach honed through years of work on the philosophy of translation, about which he has written extensively. This dual-language edition allows readers to compare versions face-to-face to get a clear sense of the nuances of the translation. Also included is an extensive introduction from the translator that offers a biographical sketch of Rilke and reflects upon the ever-present tension between the poet's passion for life, romance, and adventure, and his yearning for the solitude he desperately needed to dedicate himself fully to his art.]]> 1944 0 0 false Sat Apr 26 13:25:51 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 21 10:45:59 -0800 2009 17215122 974048 516039 0865477213 9780865477216 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175456301m/516039.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175456301s/516039.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/516039.Sonnets_to_Orpheus_Bilingual_Edition 4.54 24 World-space in pure continuous interchange
with my own being. Equipose
in which I rhythmically transpire.

Written only four years before Rilke's death, this sequence of sonnets, varied in form yet consistently structured, stands as the poet's final masterwork. In these meditations on the constant flux of our world and the ephemerality of experience, Rilke envisions death not only as one among many of life's transformations but also as an ideally receptive state of being. Because Orpheus has visited the realm of death and returned to the living, his lyre, a unifying presence in these poems, is an emblem of fluidity and musical transcendence. And Eurydice, condemned to Hades as a result of Orpheus's backward glance, becomes in Rilke's universe a mythical figure of consolation and hope.

Edward Snow, in his translations of New Poems, The Book of Images, Uncollected Poems, and Duino Elegies, has emerged as Rilke's most able English-language interpreter. Adhering faithfully to the intent of Rilke's German while constructing nuanced, colloquial poems in English, Snow's Sonnets to Orpheus should serve as the authoritative translation for years to come.
</div>]]> 1944 0 0 false Thu Mar 06 22:27:18 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 06 23:53:10 -0800 2008 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=205134