Rainer Maria Rilke
(Austrian Poet and Novelist)
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” Letters to a Young Poet.
“I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.”
“If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence, we could rise up rooted, like trees.” Book of Hours: “Love Poems to God.”
“Think… of the world you carry within you.”
“God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night.” Book of Hours: “Love Poems to God.”
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) is well known for his rich and lyrical poetry that arouses visual imagery. He is still one of the best selling poets in the United States. His first published work was in 1895, a volume of poetry Life and Songs. He wrote several collections of poetry, volumes of correspondence, and one novel—semi-autobiographical The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. He is most famous for his ten letters published posthumously, Letters to a Young Poet.
IN APRIL
Again the woods are odorous, the lark
Lifts on upsoaring wings the heaven gray
That hung above the tree-tops, veiled and dark,
Where branches bare disclosed the empty day.
After long rainy afternoons an hour
Comes with its shafts of golden light and flings
Them at the windows in a radiant shower,
And rain drops beat the panes like timorous wings.
Then all is still. The stones are crooned to sleep
By the soft sound of rain that slowly dies;
And cradled in the branches, hidden deep
In each bright bud, a slumbering silence lies.
Many of Rilke’s poems are in the public domain. Nature and silence are recurring themes. It was said that he experienced writer’s block for eight years. In his fifty-one years, he wrote over 400 poems.
While spring is here, sunshine leaning towards us every day, one of Rilke’s books stands out as the quintessential book of poems for April’s National Poetry Month: Roses. On Amazon.com.
Roses is translated by David Need and illustrated in pen-and-ink drawings by Clare Johnson, published by Horse & Buggy Press. I discovered this book when researching Rilke for my novel Draakensky, A Supernatural Tale of Magick and Romance (release planned in 2024). Rilke is an off-stage character in this mystery about a young sketch artist who illustrates Rilke’s poetry while she lives on a haunted estate in New York.
To learn more about Roses, visit Numéro Cinq:
http://numerocinqmagazine.com/2014/12/03/from-roses-by-rainer-maria-rilke-translated-by-david-need/
PODCAST on Rilke: The Book of Images and more.
The rose—a symbol of love, beauty, and devotion in Rilke’s writings—ironically caused the onset of his illness that took his life so suddenly.
Rilke died on December 29, 1926.
Before his death, Rilke wrote his own epitaph to be written on his gravestone.
He is buried in the Raron, Switzerland churchyard.
The simple headstone is surrounded by a short-walled rose garden.
Epitaph: Translation by Arthur Freeman:
“Rose, oh pure contradiction. Passion,
sleep of no one to exist under so many lids.”
For more about Rilke and his death, visit the Rilke Poetry website:
https://rilkepoetry.com/
The meaning of this epitaph is puzzling. If you have an interpretation, please post in the comments below. Celebrating National Poetry Month is an opportunity to express our love of words, literature, and honor poets and their craft. Please join me in recognizing Rainer Maria Rilke by sharing your thoughts!
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