Back Die Sonette an Orpheus German Sonnets à Orphée French Os sonetos a Orfeu Galician Sonetti a Orfeo Italian オルフォイスへのソネット Japanese Сонети за Орфеј Macedonian Sonety do Orfeusza Polish Sonetos a Orfeu Portuguese Сонеты к Орфею Russian Sonetterna till Orfeus Swedish
.jpg) Front cover of Rilke's 'Sonnets to Orpheus', 1923 | |
| Author | Rainer Maria Rilke |
|---|---|
| Original title | Die Sonette an Orpheus |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Publisher | Insel-Verlag |
Publication date | 1923 |
Original text | Die Sonette an Orpheus at German Wikisource |
The Sonnets to Orpheus (German: Die Sonette an Orpheus)[1] are a cycle of 55 sonnets written in 1922 by the Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926). It was first published the following year. Rilke, who is "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets,"[2] wrote the cycle in a period of three weeks experiencing what he described a "savage creative storm."[3] Inspired by the news of the death of Wera Ouckama Knoop (1900–1919), a playmate of Rilke's daughter Ruth, he dedicated them as a memorial, or Grab-Mal (literally "grave-marker"), to her memory.[4]: 481
At the same time in February 1922, Rilke had completed work on his deeply philosophical and mystical ten-poem collection entitled Duino Elegies which had taken ten years to complete. The Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies are considered Rilke's masterpieces and the highest expressions of his talent.[2]
- ^ The full title is listed as Die Sonette an Orpheus: Geschrieben als ein Grab-Mal für Wera Ouckama Knoop (translated as Sonnets to Orpheus: Written as a Monument for Wera Ouckama Knoop)
- ^ a b Biography: Rainer Maria Rilke 1875–1926 on the Poetry Foundation website. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Polikoff, Daniel Joseph. In the Image of Orpheus Rilke: a Soul History. (Wilmette, Illinois: Chiron Publications, 2011), 585-588.
- ^ Freedman, Ralph. Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke. (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1998).
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