With all his contradictions, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is one of the fathers of modern literature and the Duino Elegies one of its great monuments. Begun in 1912 but not completed until 1922, they are `modern' in almost every sense the word has acquired; yet Rilke was by temperament anti-moderhn, a snob and a romantic. He was devoted to the three A's: Architecture, Agriculture, Aristocracy. The Duino Elegies aroused real excitement among English readers when the now-dated Leishman/Spender versions first appeared in ...
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With all his contradictions, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is one of the fathers of modern literature and the Duino Elegies one of its great monuments. Begun in 1912 but not completed until 1922, they are `modern' in almost every sense the word has acquired; yet Rilke was by temperament anti-moderhn, a snob and a romantic. He was devoted to the three A's: Architecture, Agriculture, Aristocracy. The Duino Elegies aroused real excitement among English readers when the now-dated Leishman/Spender versions first appeared in the 1930s. Stephen Cohn, the distinguished artist and teacher, has worked for over three years to complete this outstanding new translation. Peter Porter writes: `Your translation must have grandeur, essential size in its component parts, and speed to catch the marvellous twists of Rilke's imagination.' He adds, `Cohn has met all these requirements.' These versions show a rare empathy with the originals and an instinct for the right diction and cadence. They are, says Porter, `the most flowing and organic I have read.'
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Add this copy of Duino Elegies to cart. $92.89, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Carcanet Pr.
The "warning" with this used copy was frank enough to say that pencil comments were scattered liberally throughout the text. Rather than find this a drawback, I've got a great deal out of the thoughts and research of another reader, and returned to poems I read first more than forty years ago with tremendous pleasure - I'm sure having had a great many more life experiences has primed me to appreciate what is regarded as Rilke's masterpiece more than I was able to at twenty or so.
