A detailed biography and list of selected works.

Rainer Maria Rilke is one of the most interesting writers of his time, and is very under-appreciated.

Go to Chapter One Section Go to Book World's Review Life of a Poet Rainer Maria Rilke By Ralph Freedman Chapter One 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 ...

Rainer Maria Rilke Second Elegy, from Duino Elegies Every angel is terrible And still, alas knowing all that I serenade you you almost deadly birds of the soul. Where are the days of Tobias when one of these brightest of creatures stood at the simple front door disguised a little for the trip and not so frightening (a young man like the one who looked curiously out at him). If the dangerous ...