Rilke on the Web: An Annotated Compendium

A Rilke Postcard from Prague

Assorted Rilke Websites... [The average life expectancy
of a URL on the Web is about 44 days. This page of links was first posted
III.27.1999. As a way of documenting the passing of assorted pages, the links
which are no longer active are still underlined, but gray in color instead of sky blue.]

(1) Rilke on the BBC A page of links assembled by the World Service of the BBC.

(2) David Lavery's Rilke Website One of the more interesting Rilke sites
on the Web, coming from the English Department of Middle Tennessee State University. Includes
a biography, a small selection of quotations, a gallery Rilke photographs, as well as a display
of the bookcover art of Rilke in translation. David Lavery also has an essay on the poetry
of Rilke presented here called, "Everything is Trying to Hide Us": Rilke's Poetics of Mimicry.

(3) Redfrog: Poems from Planet Earth A nice collection of poems, in German
and with English versions by different translators. Includes: The Lovers ,The Panther
(tr. Walter Arndt), The Panther (transl. unknown) , [Come you, you last one, whom I avow...]
-1926 , A Walk - 1924 (tr. Robert Bly), Just as the Winged Energy of Delight - 1924, Spring -
1924, [Life and death: they are one...] - 1922, Sonnet II, 13 - 1922 , Again, Again! - 1914,
Once I took your face into] - 1913, Woman's Lament I - 1911, Woman's Lament II - 1911,
Fall Day, [You who never arrived] (tr. Stephen Mitchell) (No longer active: V.18.2000)

Rilke's magnificent longer poem, Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes,
can also be found here in both the Leischman
and Stephen Mitchell translations.

(4) The Rainer Maria Rilke Archive A large and well-organized collection
of Rilke poems in English (only). There are a number of different translators represented here.
The site also features an interesting selection of quotations from Rilke's prose and letters
brought together in a thematic index. By Renate Hannaford.

(5) Poetry Daily Online Two Rilke poems, links, compiled by Roberto Quintos

Sometimes a man stands up during supper
and walks outdoors, and keeps on walking,
because of a church that stands somewhere in the East.
And his children say blessings on him as if he were dead...
(tr. Robert Bly)

(6) The Rilke Archive From the UK, a small collection of poems in English
translation only. Includes: The Ninth Duino Elegy. For a Friend, The Death of
the Beloved. Parting, Morgue. Black Cat, The Panther, Sonnets to Orpheus -
Second Part - Number Four, as well as Rilke's famous enigmatic Epitaph.

(7) The Sonnets to Orpheus Translations by Howard A. Landman, all 55 poems
of both Books I and II, with both English and German, side by side.

(8) The Fonesca Rilke Page (this page is no longer active) A small collection
of English translations, including some of Rilke's more obscure work, but without
the German originals, some links (last updated IX.1997).

"The rose-gatherer grasps suddenly
The full bud of his vitality,
And, at fright at the difference,
The gentle garden within her shrinks."

(9) Rita Dove (Unfortunately, this page is no longer active.) A brief interview
with the former poet laureate's recommended Rilke: "For an adolescent, particularly for a
creative young person, I would recommend Letters to a Young Poet"

(10) Letters to a Young Poet "Letters to a Young Poet is comprised of 10 letters
Rilke wrote in response to Kappus' original letters. Kappus' letters were not published, their contents
known only to Rilke himself." (tr. Stephen Mitchell)

(11) The Letters to Clara Rilke on Cézanne The letters to Clara Rilke, about
the meeting with Paul Cézanne's pictures at the first retrospective exhibition in Paris. In the visual Arts,
perhaps only the letters of Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo compare with Rilke's remarkable passion
and intensity of insight with regard to the art of image and painting. (No longer active.XI.1999)

(12) Just so Postcards: Rilke A set of seven Internet Postcards, with text from,
"The Tale of the Love and Death of the Cornet Christoph Rilke"

(13) Autumn Day/Herbst Tag: Four Translations Robert Haas with Poet's Choice
in the Washington Post. Translations by Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebmann, William Gass,
Stephan Mitchell and John Logan. (No longer active.XI.1999)

(14) Dear Friend: Rainer Maria Rilke amd Paula Modersohn-Becker "Dear Friend is
the most extensive treatment of her life available in English, and tells the story behind the
passionate but also self-serving account in Rilke's poem. It includes new translations of Rilke's
"Requiem" as well as the love poems Rilke wrote for Modersohn-Becker soon after they met." A book
by Eric Torgersen (See also an interesting review/description of Dear Friend by Mark Jacobs.)

(15) Poetry Magazine: Rilke By Doug Tanoury Small webpage: "The heart of art is narcissistic.
This preoccupation with self is the essence of Rilke's art, and I think that going beyond Rilke
is the genesis of all art. What is striking about his early work (New Poems 1906) is the
quality of vision and simple elegance in his rendering. " Page includes a remarkable collection
of very dated, but therefore of historical interest, J. B. Leishman English translations.

(16) The Duino Elegies Complete.(English only) Translated by Robert Hunter;
Blockprints by Maureen Hunter. (Published by Hulogosi Press, 1989)

(17) Welcome to Poetry & Nature's Wonders by Leila de Araujo Derzi
"Here is a lovely passage from Rilke's The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge
(Stephen Mitchell's translation) about Poetry...
"... Ah, poems amount to so little when you write them too early in your life."

(18) little blue light: Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) "Known as the greatest German
poet since Goethe, Rilke has been attributed with transforming the German language into a poetic language
with his dense, lyrical style, and his startling images that portray the complexities of modern life and their
effects on the sensitive human being."

(19) BEN SHAHN (1898-1969) The Rilke Porfolio A beautiful page from Davidson
Galleries "Born in Lithuania and emigrating to the United States when he was eight years
old, Ben Shahn had an insatiable, lifelong urge to draw and was fascinated with lettering and drawing
on stone. Shahn is easily recognized as one of the greatest American graphic artists and his print
production encompassed over 300 works, often reflecting his wide interests, particularly the
representation of social themes. In 1926 Ben Shahn first read The Notebooks of Malte Laurids
Brigge by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). The Notebooks is a bold,
autobiographical novel detailing Rilke's feelings of loneliness and defeat during his early days
in Paris and the personal inner searching which lead to his becoming a professional writer. At
the time Shahn himself was seeking his own personal artistic style, and he experienced a
connection to Rilke's writing in the probing and questioning of things."

Academic Sites with Rilke pages...

(1) Rilke: Chat An ongoing online discussion of the work of Rilke (in German)

"Herzlich Willkommen zur Rilke-Chatseite! Hier können Sie mit Ihren Studienkollegen
und Ihrer Professorin die drei Rilke Gedichte "der Panther", "römische Fontäne"
und "das Karussell" diskutieren."

(2) Hall on Rilke: West Michigan "Development in Rainer Maria Rilke's
Corpse-Washing" (No longer active.IV.2002)

(3) A Rilke Portrait Gallery A few poems in German. Includes information
about a recording of Rilke's work on CD, performed in English. (No longer active.IV.2002)

(4) The Panther An interpretation of the well-known Robert Bly translation.
(No longer active.IV.2002)

(5) The Panther An interpretation of another well-known tranlstaion, by Stephan Mitchell.

(6) Rilke: The Man and the Poet A brief biography, list of works, etc.

(7) Rilke's "Blaue Hortensie" -- Cycling into the Eternal A paper by
Nancy Thuleen on a much-loved poem from the New Poems (1907).

(8) <Friedrich Hölderlin und Rainer Maria Rilke:
Metaphorik der Innigkeit und Gesang des Ganzen durch 3 Jahrhunderte>
In seiner «Vorbemerkung» zu einer Vorlesung der Gedichte Hölderlins,
läßt uns Martin Heidegger – den Dichter selbst zitierend– folgendes Wort hören:
«alles ist innig» und fährt also fort: «dies will sagen: eines ist in das andere vereignet,
aber so, daß es dabei in seinem eigenen bleibt: Götter und Menschen, Erde und Himmel».

(9) Rainer Maria Rilke's Poetic Rhythm and Rhythm in German Poetry
around the Turn of the Century by Mette Moestrup

(10) Rilke and Rodin A Swedish site. German/English Text by Karl-Erik Tallmo:
"A task, big as the world." "RODIN'S WORK grows each day, like a forest, Rilke writes in
part one of this book. But in trying to present the great sculptor as a natural force, he
at the same time, in spite of the attempt to create a portrait of an artist, makes him
appear remarkably anonymous. Anonymous and alone.." An excellent resource:
Auguste Rodin, Erster Teil/First part; Auguste Rodin, Zweiter Teil/Second part;
Bildverzeichnis/List of Images (96 images of Rodin's work included in the site's archive)
(No longer active.IV.2002)

(11) Eine Auseinandersetzung mit Rilkes Gottesbegriff: Gott als absolute Transzendenz
An essay from Stefan Groß. "Daß Dichter Philosophen sind, muß man wohl im strikten Sinne verneinen.
Eine tiefere Affinität zwischen dem Dichter und dem Philosophen ließe sich allein konstatieren,
wenn man dem Dichter dasselbe existentielle Ringen für die Wirklichkeit zugesteht, wie es
der Philosoph immer schon in Anspruch nimmt. "

(12) Sito Web Italiano per la Filosofia: Rainer Maria Rilke

(13) "Ich liebe Ihre Sprache": Rilke's Rejection of National Identity
Abstracts of five different papers by Jenifer S. Cushman, assistant professor
of German and Russian at the University of Minnesota, Morris. "From the beginning
of the First World War to the recent conflicts in Kosovo, the Austro-Hungarian
empire left its bloody mark on the twentieth century. In their dual roles as
"marginalized citizens" and "privileged aristocrats," Austro-Hungarian artists
at the turn of the last century provide fascinating models for understanding today's
Central European border conflicts. As Europe struggles with notions of citizenship,
nationalism, and ethnicity, a rereading of the works of a well-known poet from
a marginal area of the empire may shed light on the conflicts of our time."

(14) Sonnets to Orpheus One poem from Book I, German/English,
translated by David Young:
"A god can do it. But tell me how
a man can follow him through the narrow
lyre. The human self is split; where two
heartways cross, there is no temple to Apollo...."

(15) READING GASS READING RILKE by Marjorie Perloff "I find this entire
discussion, and the subsequent ones that perform similar dissections of the second and
third elegies, as frustrating as they are fascinating. Fascinating in that Gass's meticulous account of his
mental processes makes clear that translation is always a form of interpretation–in Rilke's case, a
particularly difficult form of interpretation because the language of the Duino Elegies is not only
highly connotative but abstract enough to allow for multiple denotations as well, as in the case of
the verb schreien or the noun Ordnungen. At the same time, at least for a native German speaker
like myself, Gass's explanations are primarily frustrating, in that none of the above translations,
Gass's included, give the reader who knows no German any real sense of Rilke's peculiar power."

(16) Rainer Maria Rilke and Ellen Key: A Review Essay by George C. Schoolfield
Yale University (PDF)

(17) Rilke: Listen to a lecture on Rilke's poetry by Stanley T Gutman
The poems discussed are: The Panther; Archaic Torso of Apollo;
Portrait of My Father as a Young Man; Self-Portrait, 1906;
Going Blind; The Swan; The Last Evening. Or go to a text summary
University of Vermont (In RealAudio)

Journals and Magazines

(1) The Atlantic: To Work Is to Live Without Dying An excellent essay,
"To Work Is to Live Without Dying" — What women found irresistible about Rilke
was not the effect he had on them but the effect they had on him", by Lee Siegel.
This is a review of Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke, by Ralph Freedman.
Siegel also gives an interesting overview of Rilke biographies generally. The article
ends with Stephen Mitchell's well-known translation of,

Archaic Torso of Apollo
We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low...

You also can connect up to the website of The Washington Post
and read for yourself the first chapter of Freedman's, Life of a Poet.

"Poems are not . . . simply emotions . . . they are experiences. For the
sake of a single poem, you must see many cities, many people and things
. . . and know the gestures which small flowers make when they open in
the morning. You must be able to think back to streets in unknown
neighborhoods, to unexpected encounters, and to partings you have long
seen coming; to days of childhood whose mystery is still unexplained . . .;
to childhood illnesses . . . to mornings by the sea, to the sea
itself, to seas, to nights of travel . . . and it is still not enough."
-- The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

Also at The Washington Post: Another equally interesting review by Michael Dirda
of the same Freedman biography, as well as Uncollected Poems, by Rainer Maria Rilke,
translated by Edward Snow: Devil or Angel.

(2) Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation A review published
in The New York Review of the new book by William H. Gass. Reviewed by J.M. Coetzee. All 14 pages
are posted here.

"It concludes with a handy bibliography of translations of this much-translated poet,
from which we learn that Gass's Duino Elegies have been preceded by eighteen other
full versions—nineteen if we add in the collaborative translation of Galway Kinnell and
Hannah Liebmann that appeared earlier this year. A twentieth, by Edward Snow,
is due shortly." (See also:READING GASS READING RILKE by Marjorie Perloff)

(3) Monadnock Review: Poetry Translations Translations, by Leonard Cottrell,
published in the Monadnock Review. Includes: The Alchemist, The Donor, Eve, Falconry,
Lady in a Mirror, Pont du Carrousel, Song of the Women to the Poet, The Stylite,
A Sybil, The Temptation of St. Anthony

(4) The Angel and the Egotist "The human cost of Rilke's art." A 16-page essay/review
by Brian Phillips. TNR Online The New Republic Online. Review of READING RILKE: REFLECTIONS
ON THE PROBLEMS OF TRANSLATION, by William Gass. Knopf; THE ESSENTIAL RILKE, selected
and translated by Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebmann. Ecco; DUINO ELEGIES, translated by
Edward Snow, North Point Press:
"Rilke was always frail: a pale and sickly child, dressed as a girl by his mother; a
miserable cadet at the military school of St. Polten, plainly uncomfortable in his stiff
wool uniform, tortured by migraines and tormented by his classmates (to one of whom,
a young boy who had just hit him in the face with a closed fist, Rilke replied, "I suffer as
Christ suffered, quietly and without complaint, and as you hit me I pray to our dear Lord
that He will forgive you"); a prim and awkward new husband, visibly smaller than his bride,
the sculptress Clara Westhoff; a self-pitying aesthete during World War I, hardly
able to bear his martial duty of part-time work as a file clerk in Vienna;a delicate artiste
in his chateau in Valais, struck dead, or so the story goes, with a single prick from
a wild rose's thorn."

(5) Lost in Translation (from the Boston Phoenix) "Capturing the essence of another's
work is tricky, as two new books on poet Rainer Maria Rilke show" By John Freeman " Review of
READING RILKE: REFLECTIONS ON THE PROBLEMS OF TRANSLATION, by William Gass.
Knopf; THE ESSENTIAL RILKE, selected and translated by Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebmann.
Ecco. "Translated literature is twice distilled. The first blast of heat comes from the mind of its creator.
The second (by no means negligible) gust, as William Gass shows, issues from the mind of its translator.
Consider the many facets of poetry a translator must attend to ("rhythm, verse, form, figures, sound, or
wordplay --ambiguity, syntax, idea, or tone -- diction, subject, weight, ambition -- secret grief, overmastering
obsession"), and it's easy to see how, as Gass writes, translation can become "a form of betrayal:
it is a traduction, a reconstitution made of sacrifice and revision. One bails to keep the boat afloat."

(6) Introduction to the Duino Elegies (Intro to the David Oswald translation) "A few words
of introduction seem appropriate for a new English translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's Duineser Elegien,
this short sequence of ten poems widely considered to be the century's masterpiece of German lyric poetry.
Since a number of English translations already exist (I have read seven of them), the reader deserves
a justification for being confronted with yet another one."

(7) Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation An article by Nicole Krauss,
published online by the Boston Review. Two of the new books of Rilke translations reviewed
by Brian Phillips at TNR Online (link (4) above) are also discussed here: Reading Rilke: Reflections
on the Problems of Translation William H. Gass, Alfred A. Knopf, and the Duino Elegies (translated by
Edward Sonority Point Press/Farrar, Straus & Giroux: "Or was it "Who of the angelic hosts would
hear / me, even if I cried out?" as Elaine E. Boney translated it? Or rather "WHO, if I cried out,
might hear me--/ among the ranked Angels?" (Stephen Cohn). Or even the more casual, in the version,
"If I cried out / who would hear me up there / among the angelic orders?" (David Young). While
the story leading up to the moment of revelation is clear (recounted consistently in the Preface
of every edition), we have to rely on the translators for what came next. And, like the conflicting
stories of eyewitnesses, none seem to agree. The crystalline voice that Rilke supposedly heard
has been shattered into more than twenty English language translations. Who, if he cried out, could
be heard among this clamor?
William H. Gass may be the most audible for the moment, having stepped forward as the critic/
referee/resident philosopher/union leader of Duino Elegies translators."

(8) Washington Post: The Poet's Choice Four translations of Herbsttag, presented by
Robert Haas. "Rainer Maria Rilke is one of the great poets of the 20th century. He's also
one of the most popular. He's been translated again and again, as if some ideal English version of his
German poems haunted so many minds that writers have had to keep trying to find it. Here, for the time
of year, is a poem that he wrote in Paris on Sept. 21, 1902." Translations by Galway Kinnel and
Hannah Liebmann, Stephan Mitchell, William Gass, and John Logan.

(9) The New Criterion: Four Poems by Rainer Maria von Rilke tr. and with introduction
by Martin Greenberg "In trying to keep in the English to the rhymed metrical regularity of
these four poems, I have had to supply words of my own on occasion, to fill out a line or make a rhyme.
That is a dangerous business, putting your own words into the mouth of a great poet. The Mitgefühl
("feeling-with") that can spring up between a poet and translator may mitigate such presumption. The
splendid translations of Rilke by Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebman aim right for his imaginative
originality without interference from the requirements of rhyme and metrical regularity. The present
translations may lose in that respect; I offer them as giving something of the overall feel and swing
of Rilke's poems, of his voice playing off against the traditional voice of German poetry, which is
close to that of English poetry." Featured poems: Autumn Day; Archaic Torso of Apollo;
Leda; The Panther

German sites...

(1) Rilke entdecken, Rilke besprechen (rilke.de) An excellent collection of 134 poems
in German with commentary, documentation and links to other (German and English) works. Includes
a selection from Neue Gedichte, Duineser Elegien, Die sonette an Orpheus and others, as well as
excerpts from lesser known works such as "Monographie "Worpswede"; Kritik zu Thomas Manns;
"Buddenbrooks". The site is from Thilo von Pape.

(2) Die Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke by Stefan Bialucha (http://rainer-maria-rilke.de/)
A well-organized, simple presentation; excellent resourse for German texts;
the most important books Sonette an Orpheus [ERSTER TEIL] [ZWEITER TEIL]
Duineser Elegien; Gedichte von 1910 bis 1922; Neue Gedichte (1907); Der neuen Gedichte anderer
Teil (1908); Das Stunden-Buch—Vom mönchischen Leben; Das Stunden-Buch—Von der Pilgerschaft;
Das Stunden-Buch—Von der Armut und dem Tode; Buch der Bilder—Des ersten Buches erster Teil;
Buch der Bilder—Des ersten Buches zweiter Teil; Buch der Bilder—Des zweiten Buches erster Teil;
Buch der Bilder—Des zweiten Buches zweiter Teil; Mir zu Feier

(3) Project Gutenberg A growing source for the poetry of Rilke in German. The poems
are presented in situ, that is, in the same sequential order as found in the book-length
collections in which they were originally published. (Go to: Das Stundenbuch, Duienser Elegien,
Erzahlungen.) Below, an excerpt, in German, from a brief biography to be found there:

"Geboren am 4.12.1875 in Prag. Rilke war der Sohn eines Militärbeamten und Beamten bei der Eisenbahn.
Besuchte die Militärschule St. Pölten 1886 bis 1891 und danach die Militär-Oberrealschule in Mährisch-Weißkirchen.
Der sensible Knabe wich der Offizierslaufbahn aus, bereitete sich privat auf das Abitur vor und studierte Kunst-
und Literaturgeschichte in Prag, München und Berlin. 1897 Begegnung mit Lou Andreas-Salomé, mit der er
1899/1900 nach Rußland reiste. Das Land, die Menschen, vor allem die »russische Seele« beeindruckten ihn sehr.
Begegnung mit Tolstoi. 1900 ließ er sich in der Malerkolonie Worpswede nieder und heiratete die Bildhauerin
Clara Westhoff, von der er sich 1902 wieder trennte." A Selection of 34 Poems in German Kurzbeschreibung:
34 Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke. (No longer active.IV.2002)

(4) German Corner Poetry: Rainer Maria Rilke A small collection in German.
Includes: Abisag, Buddha, Der Panther, Liebeslied, Herbsttag

(5) Biographie mit Bildern A university site. Biographie, Gedichte: Menschen bei Nacht
(1899, Das Buch der Bilder), Tanagra (1906, Neue Gedichte), Die Flamingos (1907, Der neuen
Gedichte anderer Teil), Fragment einer Elegie (1912), Ausgesetzt auf den Bergen des Herzens (1914)

(6) Rainer Maria Rilke - Die russischen Reisen
Der zweimalige Aufenthalt in Russland, die Begegnungen und Erlebnisse dort waren für Leben und Werk
des Dichtersüberaus bedeutsam. Diesen Umstand nahmen Sabine Prilop, Ursula Brunbauer und Doris Lenz
zum Anlaß, die russische Zeit Rainer Maria Rilkes neu zu beleuchten und lyrisch in Wort und Bild zu verarbeiten.
Das Buch erscheint zum 100. Jahrestag der ersten russischen Reise Rainer Maria Rilkes im April 1999.
HerzRosen Verlag (No longer active. V.2000)

(7) Rilke as soldier: Austria around 1916 A book description with two photographs:
"Haßzellen, stark im größten Liebeskreise..." Rilke im k.u.k. Kriegsarchiv - und ein reicher,
teils farbig bebilderter Bildband. Das Buch zeigt den Dichter Rainer Maria Rilke im dunklen Glanz
der untergehenden Donaumonarchie. Wir finden ihn zusammen mit Stefan Zweig, Alfred Polgar
und Franz Theodor Csokor im k. u. k. Kriegsarchiv. (No longer active.IV.2002)

(8) LLibray, Yugoslavia A small collection: Duineser Elegien, Erzählungen, Feder
und Schwert, Die Flucht, Generationen, Der Kardinal, Kunstwerke, Östliches Taglied,
Abisag, Advent, Archaischer Torso Apollos, Blaue Hortensie, Buddha, Der Ölbaumgarten.
(Access blocked.) (No longer active.IV.2002)

(9) Ausstellung Rainer Maria Rilke "Rainer Maria Rilke und die bildende Kunst seiner Zeit"
in der Villa Stuck: "Poesie ist Malerei mit Worten. Schon immer fühlten sich gerade die Dichter aller Länder
von der bildenden Kunst angezogen. Rainer Maria Rilke ist daher nur ein besonders herausragendes Beispiel in einer
langen Reihe, die so große Namen umfaßt, wie Heine und Baudelaire, Pound und d'Annunzio. Dem spannenden
Verhältnis zwischen bildender Kunst und Literatur im Werk Rilkes geht jetzt die Münchner Villa Stuck in einer
großen, sorgfältig gestalteten Ausstellung nach, die am Donnerstag eröffnet wurde. Literaturfans kommen
hier ebenso auf ihre Kosten, wie die Liebhaber von Malerei und Plastik." (No longer active.IV.2002)

(10) GEORG KOLBE MUSEUM "Rainer Maria Rilke und die bildende Kunst seiner Zeit"
(Exhibition: "R. M. R.and the viusal Art of his Time") (No longer active.IV.2002)

(11) Georg Kolbe Museum: Rilke und die Kunst A review of the exhibition by Renate Franke
in the Berliner Morgen Post.

(12) Ausstellung "Rainer Maria Rilke und die bildende Kunst seiner Zeit" (Exhibition: "R. M. R.
and the viusal Art of his Time")

"Das Anschauen ist eine so wunderbare Sache, von der wir wenig wissen;
wir sind mit ihm ganz nach außen gekehrt, aber gerade wenn wirs am meisten sind,
scheinen in uns Dinge vor sich zu gehen, die auf das Unbeobachtetsein sehnsüchtig
gewartet haben, und während sie sich, intakt und seltsam anonym, in uns vollziehen,
ohne uns, - wächst in dem Gegenstand draußen ihre Bedeutung heran."
(Rainer Maria Rilke an Clara Rilke-Westhoff, Capri,
am 8. März 1907)

(13) Portrait of Clara Rilke-Westhoff by Paula Modersohn-Becker. English Text:
"Clara Westhoff was born on September 21st, 1878 in Bremen. She became sculptor student
of Fritz Mackensen in Worpswede in 1898. In 1899 studies with Max Klinger and Carl Seffner
in Leipzig, in 1900 studies with Rodin in Paris. In 1901 she got married to the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
1919 she moved with her daughter Ruth to Fischerhude, where she passed away on March 9th, 1954.
She was a pioneer of Feminine Sculpture in Germany and not only the woman of the poet.
In her work decisive characteristic traits are emphasized timelessly, conventional time
binded are shadowy negated."

(14) Otto-Modersohn-Museum English Text: "In altered half timbered houses on the edge
of the village Fischerhude, a selection is shown out of the artistic paintings and drawings of Otto Modersohn,
changingly within a given time. A special room is arranged for the landscapes of Paula-Modersohn-Becker. "
(Site also features a slide-show display of the museum exhibits.)

(15) A Fall Poem and Image An autumn poem and photograph/drawing of leaves.
LYRIK zum HERBST: 22 Gedichte von 17 Lyrikern mit 28 Bildern von Inga Schenkenburger.
Rilke: Herbsttag.

(16) Gustav Klimt and Rilke A painting and a poem. Rilke: Liebeslied.

(17) Duineser Elegien The complete Duino Elegies in German. By Christopher Baker.
(No longer active.IV.2002

(18) Texte von Rainer Maria Rilke u.a: Die Näherin (1894) [18kb] Wladimir, der Wolkenmaler (1899),
Der Totengräber (1901/02) , Der Apostel (1896) , Greise (1897), Die Letzten (1998/99),
Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurid Brigge [405kb]

(19) Buchkult und Kultbuch in den Weltkriegen "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets
Christoph Rilke" - Buchkult und Kultbuch in den Weltkriegen Deutsche Lanzer liebten Rilke:
Während beider Weltkriege gehörte der Cornet in beinahe jedes Sturmepäck -- eine gefragte, ja verehrte
Heldenliteratur. Rilkes Jugenddichtung traf den Zeitgeist und geriet zur Projektionsfläche jener Ideologien
sowohl des Kaiserreiches wie der Weimarer Republik,
welche schließlich in die Weltkriege mündeten.
(von Bettina Krüger)

"... der Cornet war das unvermutete Geschenk einer einzigen Herbstnacht,
in einem Zuge hingeschrieben bei zwei im Nachtwind wehenden Kerzen; das
Hinziehn der Wolken über den Mond hat ihn verursacht..."
(R. M. Rilke am 17.8.1924 an H. Pongs )

(20) Freunde im Gespräch A book announcement and summary: Rainer Maria Rilke/
Rudolf Kassner Freunde im Gespräch Briefe und Dokumente (Herausgegeben von Klaus E. Bohnenkamp
Insel Verlag, 1997) Von Jürgen Wolf

" Im Jahr 1922 widmete Rainer Maria Rilke seine "Achte Duineser Elegie"
dem Kunstphilosophen Rudolf Kassner. Miteinander bekannt waren sie allerdings schon 1907
als Rilke in Wien mit großem Erfolg aus seinen Gedichten vorlas." (No longer active: V.2000)

(21) Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 bis 1926 nach Christus) "Er dichtete, um das Leben zu ertragen."

(22) German Links Germanistik Seite: Umfassendes; Bibliographien; Kurzbiographien;
Werke; Spezialthemen; Rundfunk- und Zeitungsmanuskripte, Rezensionen

(23) Lied Texts Extensive index of Rilke's poetry which has been set to music. Includes Schoenberg,
Berg, Webern, Hindemith, Stockhausen, Barber...

(24) Das Marienleben (mit Bildern von mittelalterlichen Meistern...) Maria Verkündigung;
Maria Heimsuchung; Argwohn Josephs; Verkündigung über den Hirten; Geburt Christi;
Rast auf der Flucht in Ägypten (Das Marienleben: Duino, Januar 1912) by Inga Schnekenburger

(25) Rilke-Bibliographie 1991-1994 Word-Datei (.doc) [309 Kb]
Enthält 945 Eintragungen mit Werk-, Personen- und Ortsregister

(26) Bibliotheca Augustana "Rainer Maria Rilke wurde 1875 in Prag geboren. 1900 ist
er in der Künstlerkolonie in Worpswede, 1905/06 als Privatsekretär von Auguste Rodin
in Paris. Anschließend immer wieder auf Reisen, in Nordafrika, Ägypten, Spanien, Italien."

(27) Herbsttag One page, with photograph. (No longer active: V.2000)

(28) Frühling An Austrian page, with in German the poem, Spring, together with
two prints by Gustav Klimt.

(29) My Favorites-Meine Lieblingsgedichte by Kedvenc Versim

(30) Ausgesezt auf den Bergen des Herzens "Exposed on the mountains of the heart..."
An unusual visual interpretation of this, one of Rilke's most powerfully emotional poems, written
on the eve of World War I in Paris. A series of 10 oil pastels by the Austrian artist, Hermine Wilhelmstötter.
(No longer active.IV.2002) (For an English translation of this poem, go to a related website by Cliff Crego:
picture-poems.com: Out of an April: Mountains of the Heart)

(31) Rainer Maria Rilke A collection of 10 images with poems and music. Includes:
Das Rosen-Innere; Blaue Hortensie; Der Panther; Handinneres; Die erste Duineser Elegie.
by Inga Schnekenburger

(32) Klopfen in der Nacht Vor 100 Jahren schrieb Rainer Maria Rilke sein "Buch
vom mönchischen Leben" Article by Martin Teske. (Zeichen der Zeit / Lutherische Monatshefte)
"Denn Tod und Leben gehören für Rilke untrennbar zusammen, sie bedingen einander.
Er dichtet: "0 Herr, gieb jedem seinen eignen Tod. Das Sterben, das aus jenem Leben geht,
darin der Liebe hatte, Sinn und Not. Denn wir sind nur die Schale und das Blatt.
Der große Tod, den jeder in sich hat, das ist die Frucht, um die sich alles dreht."" (No longer active.IV.2002)

(33) Natur und Literatur Gedichte und Zitate Rainer Maria Rilke zu den
Themen, Garten.

(34) Internationale Rilke-Gesellschaft http://www.rilke.ch/

(35) Die Marbacher Institute und die Deutsche Schillergesellschaft
http://www.dla-marbach.de/

(36) radiobremen: Rainer Maria Rilke: Zum 75. Todestag [29 Dezember 2001]
"Rainer Maria Rilke, dessen Todestag sich am 29. Dezember 2001 zum 75. Male jährt, galt
über Jahrzehnte als »der Dichter« schlechthin. Mehr als 70 Jahre nach Rilkes Tod sind die
Dokumente seines Lebens, eigene und fremde, dem forschenden Biographen größtenteils verfügbar; und von
Amerika aus gesehen ist der kosmopolitische Rilke, der in deutscher und französischer Sprache schrieb, ein
Dichter und Repräsentant Europas.."

In RealAudio: 3 wonderful recordings:

(1)"Herbst", [0'37] Clara Westhoff liest das Gedicht: "Herbst" von Rainer Maria Rilke,
(Radio Bremen 1953)

(2) "Ich lebe grad, da das Jahrhundert geht", [0'36] Gert Westphal liest Rilkes Gedicht,
(Radio Bremen 1999)
(3) "Die Sprechmaschine", [2'30] Gert Westphal liest über die Bedeutung
des Grammophons für die Literatur. Aus einem Brief Rilkes an Dieter Bassermann,
19. April 1926.(Radio Bremen 1999)

(37) Rainer Maria Rilke – Briefe über Cézanne Künstlerische Wahrheit als
produzierte Wirklichkeit, by Boris Körkel

(38) Black Ink: Rainer Maria Rilke—Duineser Elegien Zu dieser Ausgabe
"Die Black Ink Online-Edition von Rilkes "Duineser Elegien" gibt den Text unverändert
und ungekürzt wieder. Der Text wurde in der Orthographie und Interpunktion der ersten allgemeinen
Ausgabe von 1923, erschienen im Insel-Verlag Leipzig, belassen und auch nicht behutsam modernisiert."

(39) DIE SONETTE AM ORPHEUS GESCHRIEBEN ALS EIN GRAB-MAL
FÜR WERA OUCKAMA KNOOP Château de Muzot im Februar 1922 (complete
text, one webpage, in German)

(40) Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge complete German text,
by Christian Kasparek

(41) "Ach Seligkeit, daß Du bist!": Der Briefwechsel zwischen Rilke und Claire Goll
an essay by Rüdiger Zymner "So schreibt Rilke etwa über Claire Golls Gedichtsammlung
Gefühle am 5. August 1919:

"Liliane, Du herzlich Dichtende, ich habe heute Deine Gedichte gelesen, die
aus Begeisterung hervorgehen, alle, aus einer Begeisterung Deines ganzen
Körpers und Daseins, wirklich aus dem Körpergefühl; in einem, aus jeder
Stelle des Leibs miterbauten Bewußtsein kommen sie zu sich, und von den
schönsten darf man sagen, daß sie dort eine freie, durchsichtige Wohnung
haben."

(42) Claire Goll: Meine Beziehung zu Rilke Listen in RealAudio: Claire Goll recalls
hear friendschip with Rilke c.1918; reads from letters: an histroic recording from radiobremen
Aus einem Radio-Bremen-Interview1966, Interviewerin: Irmgard Bach

(43) Bayerischer Rundfunk: Engel und Gott Listen in RealAudio
"Wir sind einsam. Man kann sich darüber täuschen und tun, als wäre es nicht so.
Das ist alles. Wie viel besser ist es aber, einzusehen, dass wir es sind, ja geradezu,
davon auszugehen", konstatiert Rilke. (text at BR) Briefe an Lou Andreas Salomé
"Liebe, ich bin trunken vor lauter Schauen."

(44) Stefan Schanks Website zu Rainer Maria Rilke
http://www.rilke-online.de/

Gatherings, readings, symposia...

(1) Die Jahrestagung der Rilke-Gesellschaft (The Yearly Meeting of the Rilke Society)
Dem österreichischen Schriftsteller Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) ist von 23. bis 26. September (1999)
ein Symposion in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek und der Österreichischen Gesellschaft
für Literatur in Wien gewidmet. Auf dem Programm stehen Vorträge, die Eröffnung einer
Rilke-Ausstellung und verschiedene Arbeitsgruppen. Anlaß für die Veranstaltungen ist
die Jahrestagung der Rilke-Gesellschaft.

(2) Rilke-Tage in Raron/Wallis Mai 2000, Woche 2. Raron is a small village along
the Rhone River, not far from Muzot, close to where the German language area of the Swiss Alps meets
the French speaking part. Hannes Meier Der Rilke-Rezitator: "Ein Rilke-Schwärmer, nein, das bin ich nicht.
Doch in dieser lärmenden kontemporanen Oednis tut sie hin und wieder gut, diese Sprachgewalt
Rilkes, die nicht rasselnd und scheppernd um Aufmerksamkeit oder sogar Zustimmung wirbt,
sondern verhalten sich anbietet, wie aus einer Askese heraus, zaghaft, fast hilflos, eine Sprache
der Visionen, jenseits von Ehrgeiz und Geltungsdrang."

(3) Gert Voss im Berliner Kammermusiksaal: Rainer Maria Rilke trifft auf das
Philharmonische Orchester. Tagesspiegel Online "Für "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des
Cornets Christoph Rilke" kommt der Abend einer Klarstellung gleich. Denn das
emphatische Büchlein trägt die Last und den Erfolg seiner Rezeptionsgeschichte
mit sich, die mit verklärtem Heldentod, Erstem Weltkrieg und verlegerischem Feeling
des Insel-Verlages zu tun hat. Eine Million Auflage und das Werk im Soldatentornister:
"Reiten, reiten, reiten, durch den Tag, durch die Nacht, durch den Tag ...""

Recordings and Rilke texts set to music

(1) Feder und Schwert: Sprecher: Hans Eckardt 2 WortCassetten (154 Min.)
Diese Sammlung enthält folgende Erzählungen: Das Christkind, Die Näherin, Feder und Schwert,
Ein Charakter, Die goldene Kiste, Und doch in den Tod, Das Geheimnis, Der Apostel,
Die Greise, Die Stimme.

(2) The Black Cat Courtney Evans MP3: "Description: Movement 2 from Menagerie,
a five-movement song cycle for soprano and orchestra (1996). The text is Rainer Maria Rilke,
translated by Stephen Mitchell. Credits: Christine Arand/Paul Lustig Dunkel/The Juilliard Symphony"

(3) RealAudio Recordings By Andrea Tranbarger Herbsttag; Der Panther: RealAudio format.

(4) Marta Ptaszynska - Die Sonette an Orpheus A piece for Mezzo Soprano and
Chamber Orchestra. Concert notice posted by the Goethe Institute, Chicago, USA.

(5) Poetry Audio Sample Recordings of five Rilke poems in German and
Hungarian translation. RealAudio format. By Alfred Tueting : 'Der Panther'; 'Archaischer
Torso Apolls'; 'Archaikus Apolló Torzó' (in Hungarian); 'Herbsttag' ; 'Õszi Nap'
('Autumn Day'; in Hungarian)

(6) Eugenia Manoides music Conductor and Composer
"After a successful concert at the Musikverein in September 2000, Dr. H. Horst Haschek
who, at the time, was still the President of the Musikverein- and his wife suggested as
an idea to put some of the works by Rilke to music." [...] The concert which is entitled
«Tempel im Gehör», is divided in 2 parts. The first part contains 10 poems of «das Stundenbuch»
and the second, 7 works from «die Sonette an Orpheus».

(7) Arnold Schönberg Center: Gesamtausgabe Vier Lieder für Gesang
und Orchester op. 22

1 . Seraphita (Ernest Dowson)
2. Alle, welche dich suchen (aus »Das Stunden-Buch« von Rainer Maria Rilke)
3. Mach mich zum Wächter deiner Weiten (aus »Das Stunden-Buch« von Rainer Maria Rilke)
4. Vorgefühl (aus »Das Buch der Bilder« von Rainer Maria Rilke)

(8) Rainer Maria Rilke - Bis an alle Sterne "Es ist ein großes Wagnis und zugleich
eine umwerfende Idee, die das Komponisten - Duo Richard Schönherz und Angelica Fleer mit
ihrer CD "Bis an alle Sterne" verwirklicht haben. Ist es möglich, Lyrik, und gemeint sind die schönsten
Gedichte Rilkes, zu vertonen? Die Antwort lautet uneingeschränkt: Ja!" Listen to clips in RealAudio:
Mario Adorf Ich lebe mein Leben; Rudolph Moshammer Liebes-Lied See also: Rilke Projekt

French sites...

(1) RILKE à MARIE TAXIS: Rilke correspondence: "à Lautschin Paris, 17 rue Campagne-Première,
XIVè Ce 21 Janvier 1914 (mercredi)... [L'autre est] un Marcel Proust., Du côté de chez Swann", un livre dont
vous aurez peut-être déjà entendu dire du bien, sinon même rien que de très excellent. Je ne sais ce qu'il mérite,
mais je vous recommande toute la première partie et toute la troisième et je suis certain que vous y trouverz
un multiple plaisir. La longue partie intermédiaire, l'amour de Swann et sa jalousie..." English translation:
"...the 21st of January, Wednesday...[the other is] a Marcel Proust, "Swann's Way," a book perhaps about
which you've already heard, even if nothing else than it being most excellent. I don't know if it merits that,
but I recommend all of the first and all of the third parts, and I'm sure that you will find them most pleasureable.
The long intermediate part, the love of Swann and his jealousy..." By C. Vignat.

(2) Lettres à un jeune poète (extraits)

(3) Poèmes à la nuit Lettres à Yvonne von Wattenwyl; Chant éloigné
"Je ne líai pas connu, et ses livres aussi ne míont été révélés quíassez tard, líannée même où ce
poète prenait définitivement figure de fantôme. Toute une partie de son úuvre míéchappe, síenfonce
pour moi dans le balbutiement et le brouillard, car les poèmes traduits ne sont jamais que des colombes
auxquelles on a coupé les ailes, des Sirènes arrachées à leur élément natal, des exilés sur la rive étrangère
qui ne peuvent que gémir quíils étaient mieux ailleurs. "

(4) Rainer Maria Rilke "Une autre image revient à ma pensée ; moins heureuse peut-être, mais aussi
attachante. J'apercevais Rilke dans une voiture découverte, au milieu d'une masse de véhicules arrêtés,
moi-même passant là par hasard ; il était, dans cet encombrement, parfaitement seul ; rien ne pouvait
lui faire croire qu'il fût observé. Je ne crois pas avoir vu jamais un visage plus sereinement, plus
royalement triste. (Pierre-Jean Jouve, Sacrifices, Fata Morgana) Vergers (1926) « Ô nostalgie des lieux... »
Les Quatrains valaisans (1926) « Beau papillon près du sol... »

(5) Paula Modersohn-Becker PAULA MODERSOHN-BECKER ET LES ARTISTES DE WORPSWEDE
Dessins et gravures 1895-1906 "Le Musée de l'Imprimerie accueille du 18 novembre au 31 décembre 1999 une exposition
conçue par l'Ifa (Institut pour les relations avec l'Etranger, Berlin) en partenariat avec le Goethe Institut de Lyon.
Elle présente les dessins et gravures de Paula Modersohn-Becker et des artistes de Worpswede, petite localité
au nord de Brême où peintres et poètes s'étaient établis vers 1884 pour communier dans un même idéal fondé
sur la nature. " (No longer active.IV.2002)

Sites in Spanish...

(1) Rilke in Spanish Zweisprachige Ausgabe - edición bilingüe

"Rosa, oh pura contradicción, placer,
de ser el sueño de nadie bajo tantos párpados."

(2) Links para R.M.R. "Porque lo bello, no es mas que el inicio de lo
terrible, que todavía, apenas soportamos, y lo admiramos tanto, porque
serenamente..."

(3) Archivo Rilke: letras.s5.com Poesía: " Las Elegías del Duino"
Traducción, notas y comentarios de Otto Dörr Zegers A selection of six poems
with extended commentary.

(4) Circulo.es: La biografía de Rilke "Si intentásemos dibujar en un mapa de época
el itinerario vital de Rainer Maria Rilke a lo largo de sus últimos treinta años de vida,
nos enfrentaríamos a un indescifrable galimatías de proporciones laberínticas. La trayectoria del poeta
se convierte, a partir de su mayoría de edad, en una confusa estela, un incesante vagabundeo que parte
de su Praga natal y termina súbitamente en una pequeña aldea del cantón suizo de Valais. Sin embargo
lo que tiene de errabunda su vida, ese confuso e interminable trazo sobre el papel, es una imagen fiel
de su propia personalidad y de su móvil vital. La búsqueda, el infatigable pulso por acondicionar su
circunstancia personal a los elevados requerimien-tos de su quehacer poético es una constante en Rilke,
un hábito endémico que nace con el descubrimiento de su orfandad allá en su adolescencia, y termina,
tres décadas después, en el balneario de Val-Mont." (A very nicely done Rilke online biography,
featuring a map of Rilke's european journeys.)

Dutch sites...

(1) 'Ik Zou een Stem Willen Hebben als de Zee...' (Florentijns dagboek blz. 59)
"I'd like to have a voice like the sea..." Book review: 'Brieven over Cézanne'
(tweede, gecorrigeerde druk 1990), 'Auguste Rodin' (1990),
'Florentijns Dagboek'

"Mede door een intensieve bestudering van Cézanne's schilderijen begon hij gedichten
te schrijven die later de 'ding-gedichten' werden genoemd: verwoording van wat hij had
waargenomen en waarin het waargenomene niet bedolven raakt onder een stortvloed
van sentimentele erupties. Veel van deze gedichten zijn ondergebracht in de 'Neue Gedichte',
waarvan het eerste 'Der Panther' nog steeds een grote vermaardheid geniet."
Het recent Harry Fleurke

(2) Rilke in Dutch A list of Dutch translations.

(3) Austrian Poet Rainer Maria Rilke "He lived till 1902 in Bremen, after that he lived
in Paris till 1914 where he was the secretary of the sculpter, Rodin. After that he stayed
in Switzerland....His poems are lyric and epic."

Biographies

(1) Rainer Maria Rilke: Biographie mit Bildern Archive with 14 images.
(German only) One page. (No longer active.IV.2002)

(2) Rainer Maria Rilke: Biographie Lebensdaten Werk (German only) One page.

(3) Rainer Maria Rilke "1875 4 décembre : naissance à Prague. Rilke s'attribuait volontiers
une ascendansce de noblesse carinthienne; il semble en fait que cette ascendance ait été purement imaginaire."
(French only) One page.

(4) Rilke in Portugal "Para uma história da recepção de Rainer Maria Rilke em Portugal"
History of Rilke in translation in Portugal, with English summary.

(5) The Encarta Rilke A concise page included in the popular Microsoft encyclopedia,
Encarta, with links (MSN) "Austro-German poet and novelist, regarded as one of the most important
and influential modern poets because of his precise, lyrical style, his symbolic imagery,
and his spiritual reflections. He was born in Prague (now in the Czech Republic).
Rilke's first published works were love poems, Life and Songs (1894). A trip to Russia
created in Rilke the belief that God is present in all things, an idea expressed in his poems
Stories of God (1900). After 1900 Rilke formulated a precise, concrete style exemplified
in the poems collected in The Book of Pictures (1902) and by the verse series Poems
from the Book of Hours (1905)."

(6) Internationale Rilke-Gesellschaft: Rilke Biographie

(7) Sigmund Freud Museum Vienna: Visit of Rainer Maria Rilke (1915) "Rilke was already
acquainted with psychoanalysis through his friendship with Lou Andreas-Salome and
in Vienna he visited Freud. He was "charming company", Freud informed Ferenczi after the visit.
Anna was a great admirer of Rilke's poetry which, as she later wrote, could provide her with as
much insight into the human psyche as psychoanalysis."

If you would like to add a link to this page,
send the URL and a brief description to...

crego@picture-poems.com

To view other work of Cliff Crego's, go to picture-poems.com: Picture/Poems: Central Display.
Also, see cs-music.com The Circle in the Square, a new music, poetry and dance performance project.
See also r2c: New Dutch Poetry in translation.

Comments and criticism are welcome, in English or German. You can write to Cliff Crego directly at crego@picture-poems.com