Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #260705 in Books
• Published on: 1987-11-20
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Customer Reviews

Wonderful poet - great translation
OK so you won't find all of Rilke's poems here. Mitchell reckons that some are just cannot be translated. It's still the best though. Mitchell's translation of the Elegies is unlikely to be bettered.

I go back to this year on year
One day I will try another translation of Rilke and then I will find out just how much of what I love about this book is Rilke and how much is Mitchell's translation. It's not a complete collection but what is there is dense and comprehensive. I have enough German to be able to read the facing original texts, to scan for rhythm and metre, and to some extent the translation. It looks to me that where there is a choice, rhythm takes precedence over words. But the words chosen instead are gorgeous. The whole effect has the luminousity of the best of Ginsberg. Whether that's faithful to the original spirit I could not say. All I can really say is that if someone had written these poems in this English then they would be acknowledged masterpieces of mystical poetry.

beautiful excuses..
Here are some of the most beautiful poems that have been written, in the best translations I have yet found..but beware- Rilke's poetry was his excuse to treat women horrifically..read his letters...an absolute git...