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marcymurli's review against another edition
2.0
I find the story of how Rilke came to write these elegies far more captivating than the volume itself. Maybe I'm just not enamoured with modernist poetry of late. I can certainly appreciate the poetic qualities of this work, but I'm not particularly moved by it.
helgamharb's review against another edition
4.0
The story goes that while staying at the Duino Castle, one morning needing to gather his thoughts in order to write an answer to a business letter, Rilke goes out in the storm. All of a sudden he hears a voice in the strong wind, calling: "If I cried out, who would hear me up there, among the angelic orders?"
He immediately writes those words down in his ever-present notebook and hence they become the first lines of Duino Elegies.
Let no one say that I don’t love life, the eternal
presence: I pulsate in her; she bears me, she gives me
the spaciousness of this day, the primeval workday
for me to make use of, and over my existence flings,
in her magnanimity, nights that have never been.
Her strong hand is above me, and if she should hold me under,
submerged in fate, I would have to learn how to breathe
down there.
He immediately writes those words down in his ever-present notebook and hence they become the first lines of Duino Elegies.
Let no one say that I don’t love life, the eternal
presence: I pulsate in her; she bears me, she gives me
the spaciousness of this day, the primeval workday
for me to make use of, and over my existence flings,
in her magnanimity, nights that have never been.
Her strong hand is above me, and if she should hold me under,
submerged in fate, I would have to learn how to breathe
down there.
cayleigh's review against another edition
Picked this up because Letters to a Young Poet is one of those rare books that genuinely changed my life, so I figured Rilke's poetry had to be pretty decent as well. My favourite lyrical poem was "You, neighbour God" and here are some of my favourite lines from the elegies:
“For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror
which we are barely able to endure, and it amazes us so,
because it serenely disdains to destroy us.
Every angel is terrible.”
“We don’t love like the flowers, with just
the force of a single year; when we love,
ancient sap is rising.”
Looking forward to reading more of Rilke.
edwardian_girl_next_door's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
I'm not sure if this translation is one that resonates with me, hence the low(ish) rating. I want to try out other translations in the future.
keelyanned's review against another edition
3.0
This collection was more difficult to get into, but I definitely settled into the style of writing and prose by the last two elegies. Beautiful words, difficult read.
foggy1218's review against another edition
4.0
2022 reads, 14/20:
The Duino Elegies are a collection of ten deeply religious and spiritual poems written by Rainer Maria Rilke from 1912 to 1922, taking various breaks in between. They cover heavy (and even overwhelming) themes such as religion, life, and death.
This in the first lines of the first elegy, Rilke makes a call out to ‘the Angels,’ but quickly realizes that biblically-accurate angels would be too powerful for a human to comprehend, thus concluding ‘every Angel is terror.’ The elegies continue in this manner, further exploring themes of childhood, parenthood, and even love, with some beautiful lines weaving their way throughout the deeply existentialist stanzas.
The theme of death makes its way front and center in the final three elegies – Rilke expresses his anger towards death, acceptance of death, and finally imagines what death would be like. To me, these were the heaviest of the ten, but the most powerful.
I don’t read much poetry, so I’m not adept to take a deep dive into these poems and what Rilke might have been feeling at the time, I could only really enjoy the ride as I read. But don't be fooled: each elegy may only be 3-4 pages, but you really have to step back and take in what Rilke is saying.
The Duino Elegies are a collection of ten deeply religious and spiritual poems written by Rainer Maria Rilke from 1912 to 1922, taking various breaks in between. They cover heavy (and even overwhelming) themes such as religion, life, and death.
This in the first lines of the first elegy, Rilke makes a call out to ‘the Angels,’ but quickly realizes that biblically-accurate angels would be too powerful for a human to comprehend, thus concluding ‘every Angel is terror.’ The elegies continue in this manner, further exploring themes of childhood, parenthood, and even love, with some beautiful lines weaving their way throughout the deeply existentialist stanzas.
“You see, we don’t love like flowers, the work of just one year; sap from time immemorial mounts in our arms when we love.”
The theme of death makes its way front and center in the final three elegies – Rilke expresses his anger towards death, acceptance of death, and finally imagines what death would be like. To me, these were the heaviest of the ten, but the most powerful.
I don’t read much poetry, so I’m not adept to take a deep dive into these poems and what Rilke might have been feeling at the time, I could only really enjoy the ride as I read. But don't be fooled: each elegy may only be 3-4 pages, but you really have to step back and take in what Rilke is saying.