Product Description

Rainer Maria Rilke's '55 Sonnets to Orpheus' remain a testimony to a writer whose significance other poets continue to testify to. Don Paterson's translation offers a radiant and at times distressing version of the great work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15776 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

Orpheus.
The first work that has been used as the springboard for this is excellent, and if you don't know of the unusual circumstance in which the composition took place then look up Rilke on wikipedia. The sonnets are a probing, questioning look at the world, metaphysical speculations, experience and loss.
As a version of Rilke's sonets, this is a work of brilliance; having looked at other translations as well as the original I feel that this is the most pleasing to read without sacrificing too much of the artistic integrity of the original text.
However, because it is a rhyming edition, etc. it is not accurate on a word-for-word level; I tend to prefer this to a translation, but others may disagree (it tells you that it is a version and not a translation on the cover anyway).
The notes on translation, etc at the end are also very interesting and provide some insight into any interpretive bias that Paterson may have introduced.

I like Paterson as a poet, but I prefer this to the collections of his own compostitions: I liked the sonnets die orpheus by Rilke, and I think that this well-presented edition will meet all but the highest expectations, and pleasantly surprise those who have set the bar low.