In Praise of Mortality

by Anita Barrows, Joanna Macy

A new translation of two key works by the renowned twentieth-century poet includes Sonnets to Orpheus, a reflection of the writer's deep reverence for nature, and Duino Elegies, a meditation on human impermanence and its link to all life and times. Reprint.

Genres: Poetry, Death, Philosophy

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 2005

Reviews

[Liaken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautiful translations. I wish there were a bit more poetry and a little less talking about it. Still, what breathless versions of the selections from the Duino Elegies.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Wagons and trucks rolled by. We didn't care.
Houses rose around us, solid but unreal, and no one knew us.
What, after all, was real?

Nothing. Only the ball, the beautiful arcs it made.
Not even the children were real, except for that moment
of reaching up and ah! catching the ball."
- Part Two, VIII, Sonnets to Orpheus

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"How far it is between the stars, and how much farther
is what's right here. The distance, for example,
between a child and one who walks by--
oh, how inconceivably far.

Not only in measurable spans does Fate
move through our lives.
Think how great the distance between a young girl
and the boy she avoids and loves."
- Part Two, XX, Sonnets to Orpheus

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"And we: always and everywhere spectators,
turned not toward the Open
but to the stuff of our lives.
It drowns us. We set it in order.
It falls apart. We order it again
and fall apart ourselves."
- Eighth Elegy, Duino Elegies

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rilke's poetry transcends the mortal world and speaks to whatever part of the human spirit that may be infinite.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have read Rilke at some point in an honors English class in high school, or during my minor in English at UT, but I don't remember doing so. Could my teachers have skipped over him somehow? This was the only collection of his poems at the local library, so now I am on a quest to find more (perhaps on my next trip to the used book store).

Lines seem to be speaking directly to me, as great poetry often does to its readers.

"This is our fate: to stand in our own way. Forever in the way."

"Like a person lingering for a moment on the last hill where he can see his whole valley - that is how we live, forever taking our leave."

"We in our striving think we should last forever, but could we be used by the Divine if we were not ephemeral?"

"...the stuff in our lives. It drowns us. We set it in order. It falls apart. We order it again and fall apart ourselves."

And the entire poem about the unicorn, how we will it into being by our belief - "They fed him: not with grain, but ever with the chance that he could be."

I took Russian, wanting to read Pasternak and Yevtushenko. I am tempted to take German just for Rilke. Thank goodness there are wonderful translations available. If you haven't tried any of his work yet and you like poetry - you should pick up a volume. His discussions of mindfulness, the takeover of modern life by the "Machine," and other themes are just as topical today as when he wrote them.

[Sherrice Mojgani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely introduction to this work, very accessible

[Kylie Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I'm not really into poetry, but I had read some excerpts of RIlke in another book and really liked the language. So I gave this book a try. If a teacher had made me read it and then write a paper on it, I would have hated it. But the language is beautiful and relaxing.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ir's Rilke how could it not be beautiful? I do like these translations. I listened to Joana Macy on a great podcast talking about this collection, her love of Rilke's poetry & the German language so I had to read this book. I loved it.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some words echo back to me from John O'Donohue who loved to quote Rilke. How much like real life, now at this time in mine, are these poems. Orpheus Part One XX reminds me of my beloved

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

good