Rating: 
Summary: "Be still and know."
Review: "My branches/ rest in deep silence," Rilke writes in this collection, "stirred only by the wind" (I, 3). I arrived at this translation of Rilke through Joanna Macy's recent memoir, WIDENING CIRCLES (2000), the title of which Macy took from a Rilke poem collected here: "I live my life in widening circles/ that reach out across the world./ I may not ever complete the last one,/ but I give myself to it" (I, 2). I am not a Rilke scholar, nor am I qualified to comment on the accuracy of this translation, but for me, Macy and Barrows succeed in capturing the spiritual intimacy of Rilke's verse.Rilke (1875-1926) wrote his BOOK OF HOURS between the years 1899-1903, inspired by the spirituality he encountered while visiting Russia. He tells us things of the world have souls, giving us an opportunity for dialogue. It is possible to read this collection both as "cycle of love poems," and as "intensely inward conversations with God" (p. 24). Rilke portrays God "not with lapis or gold, but with colors made of apple bark" (I, 60). He observes that God moves quietly through our lives: "Of all who move through the quiet houses,/ you are the quietest" (I, 45). God runs "like a herd of luminous deer/ and I am dark," Rilke writes, "I am a forest" (I, 45). "Things" teach us "to fall,/ patiently to trust our heaviness./ Even a bird has to do that/ before he can fly" (II, 16). "Now you must go out into your heart," Rilke writes in another poem, "as onto a vast plain" (II, 2). These are poems that will quietly touch your soul; they will leave you wanting to spend more than a few HOURS with Rilke. Another recommended favorite is Mitchell's SELECTED POETRY OF RAINER MARIA RILKE (1989). G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: "Be still and know."
Review: "My branches/ rest in deep silence," Rilke writes in this collection, "stirred only by the wind" (I, 3). I arrived at this translation of Rilke through Joanna Macy's recent memoir, WIDENING CIRCLES (2000), the title of which Macy took from a Rilke poem collected here: "I live my life in widening circles/ that reach out across the world./ I may not ever complete the last one,/ but I give myself to it" (I, 2). I am not a Rilke scholar, nor am I qualified to comment on the accuracy of this translation, but for me, Macy and Barrows succeed in capturing the spiritual intimacy of Rilke's verse. Rilke (1875-1926) wrote his BOOK OF HOURS between the years 1899-1903, inspired by the spirituality he encountered while visiting Russia. He tells us things of the world have souls, giving us an opportunity for dialogue. It is possible to read this collection both as "cycle of love poems," and as "intensely inward conversations with God" (p. 24). Rilke portrays God "not with lapis or gold, but with colors made of apple bark" (I, 60). He observes that God moves quietly through our lives: "Of all who move through the quiet houses,/ you are the quietest" (I, 45). God runs "like a herd of luminous deer/ and I am dark," Rilke writes, "I am a forest" (I, 45). "Things" teach us "to fall,/ patiently to trust our heaviness./ Even a bird has to do that/ before he can fly" (II, 16). "Now you must go out into your heart," Rilke writes in another poem, "as onto a vast plain" (II, 2). These are poems that will quietly touch your soul; they will leave you wanting to spend more than a few HOURS with Rilke. Another recommended favorite is Mitchell's SELECTED POETRY OF RAINER MARIA RILKE (1989). G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: "Be still and know."
Review: "My branches/ rest in deep silence," Rilke writes in this collection, "stirred only by the wind" (I, 3). I arrived at this translation of Rilke through Joanna Macy's recent memoir, WIDENING CIRCLES (2000), the title of which Macy took from a Rilke poem collected here: "I live my life in widening circles/ that reach out across the world./ I may not ever complete the last one,/ but I give myself to it" (I, 2). I am not a Rilke scholar, nor am I qualified to comment on the accuracy of this translation, but for me, Macy and Barrows succeed in capturing the spiritual intimacy of Rilke's verse. Rilke (1875-1926) wrote his BOOK OF HOURS between the years 1899-1903, inspired by the spirituality he encountered while visiting Russia. He tells us things of the world have souls, giving us an opportunity for dialogue. It is possible to read this collection both as "cycle of love poems," and as "intensely inward conversations with God" (p. 24). Rilke portrays God "not with lapis or gold, but with colors made of apple bark" (I, 60). He observes that God moves quietly through our lives: "Of all who move through the quiet houses,/ you are the quietest" (I, 45). God runs "like a herd of luminous deer/ and I am dark," Rilke writes, "I am a forest" (I, 45). "Things" teach us "to fall,/ patiently to trust our heaviness./ Even a bird has to do that/ before he can fly" (II, 16). "Now you must go out into your heart," Rilke writes in another poem, "as onto a vast plain" (II, 2). These are poems that will quietly touch your soul; they will leave you wanting to spend more than a few HOURS with Rilke. Another recommended favorite is Mitchell's SELECTED POETRY OF RAINER MARIA RILKE (1989). G. Merritt
Rating: 
Summary: A Shameful Translation
Review: A Shameful Translation
This volume is quite possibly the sloppiest, most disrespectful, and least reliable "translation" of Rilke I have ever seen. The term "translation" can only be used in the most casual sense for in their notes on translation Barrows and Macy describe a kind of vague new-age method of translation consisting of a kind of collaboration between them and the original, full of interpretation and subjectivity (pg. 35). At one point they even confess to doing away entirely with the accurate translation of one of the poems in favour of a "metaphorical" translation (pg. 40). They admit to omitting lines, entire sections of poems, and even collapsing two consecutive poems into one (pg. 41). Any legitimate and reputable translator would be horrified by these hackneyed techniques.
For example, in the very first poem, one which sets the tone for the whole book, Barrows and Macy, in their foot notes, admit to cutting out the entire last stanza, fully one-third of the first poem because, "it is not as strong as the first two stanzas, especially for the opening poem of The Book of Hours." Rilke, his editor, and his publisher obviously thought it was strong enough. The fact of the matter is that Rilke's work is what it is and it is not the translator's place, as any reputable translator knows full well, to make those determinations. On page 42 of their notes on translation, commenting further on Rilke's supposedly weak writing, they smugly comment, "Since we could not bring him the chicken soup he needed on those long nights [of writing], we have done him the favour of culling." One wishes they had done him the favour of a reliable and reputable translation instead of rewriting his beautiful and thoughtful original.
Rating:
Summary: revisionism masquerading as homage, poems missing
Review: As well intentioned as this volume may be, there is simply never an excuse for severely editing a poet's work in order to "fit modern sensibilities." I'm not talking about the process of translating itself, which inevitably alters a text, but rather Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy's admitted practice of omitting many poems in Rilke's Book of Hours, and even entire stanzas of other poems that they simply didn't like. But let them speak for themselves. This is from the book's notes on translation: "Our many omissions were made out of respect for Rilke (!) to convey and preserve WHAT WE CONSIDERED his essential meaning, undistracted by cliches and undiluted by mixed metaphors...what seemed appropriate to Rilke in Europe nearly a hundred years ago sometimes smacks of pious sentimentality to the American reader on the edge of the 21st century." How fortunate for Rilke that he managed to sustain a reputation for greatness all these years without the help of these two revisionist editors to clean up his act! If you like your Rilke strained through the sieve of Berkely political correctness circa 1991 then this is the volume for you. If, however, you believe that much of Rilke's greatness lies in the fact that what he wrote nearly a century ago continues to speak to the universal human condition today, choose another translation. I returned this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Rilke, Love Poems to God
Review: Bought this on a whim and am so thankful I did! A beautiful book, beautifully translated; could have been written a thousand years ago or yesterday. Treat yourself to a spiritual boost!
Rating:
Summary: Exquisitely simple, embodied poems
Review: From glancing at others' reviews, it seems that these translations inspire a love-or-hate response! I'm not surprised....I've been a lover of Rilke's creations since 1984, when I first encountered Stephen Mitchell's brilliant translations. To my eye, no other translator (into English, at least) "gets" the core spirit of Rilke's longing like Mitchell. At the same time, "Love Poems to God" somehow carves its way to the *embodied* essence of Rilke's cries to his God. These poems resonate so deeply within me; I pore over them often. They speak immediately to my own spiritual longings; they are simple, heartfelt, open -- like the cries of a child. Others' translations appeal to my mind more -- to my desire to understand our mystical urges and our perpetual tussles with the Divine....These translations evoke pure feeling, as if Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy are speaking to the *body* of Rilke's thoughts. They're pure prayer -- stark, begging, pleading, grateful, confused, wondering and calling from the naked soul. I experience them as direct conversations between myself and God. They are also, as far as I'm aware, the only English (or any?) translations by women. That alone makes them worth cherishing. Thank you, Anita and Joanna, for such a beautiful gift.
Rating:
Summary: Rilkes Book of hours by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy shines
Review: I am a poet myself and have found This collection of poems by Rilke beautiful, inspiring and thought provoking. A few years ago when i was first introduced to this book I was so taken by it that I bought paper back copies of it as a gift to a special education class i was trying to help in some way, plus I have found that Much of my own work today has been strongly influneced bY This edition of Rilke's book oF hours. It is the only edition I know about. As a poet I can say that it is not always neccessary to conform to ryhme and meter in a poem for it to be good. Rhyme and meter are generally forgotten by the reader while the images and emotions that are provoked can stay with a person for years.In these poems considered as private prayers by the author as well as in other translations of different work by Rilke the language just flows and is beautiful. It touches and speaks to us about the internal questions all human beings have about creation and existence. one need not be religious to love these poems and even a atheist would love them.When You consider poetry a verbal expression of emotions ,thoughts and experineces and not just a intellectual exersize and if you love language in general you can appreciate these poems. Only a person who is void of a soul and human feelings and lacks sensativity wouldnt like these poems. I found thembreath taking and deep as if the poet were comtemplating the meaning of life while he wrote them.
Rating: 
Summary: Traduttore traditore
Review: I don't read German, but I do read poetry, often in translation. The authors offer the following example of their method: two of Rilke's lines that translate literally as Yet as I also lean into myself:
My God is dark and like a web. they "improve" as follows: But when I lean over the chasm of myself
it seems
my God is dark
and like a web. The literal translation is obviously so far superior to the meddled-with version that I can only assume that they destroyed other poems as well. I gave two stars instead of one only because some of the poems turned out nicely in spite of the authors' efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Traduttore traditore
Review: I don't read German, but I do read poetry, often in translation. The authors offer the following example of their method: two of Rilke's lines that translate literally as Yet as I also lean into myself:
My God is dark and like a web. they "improve" as follows: But when I lean over the chasm of myself
it seems
my God is dark
and like a web. The literal translation is obviously so far superior to the meddled-with version that I can only assume that they destroyed other poems as well. I gave two stars instead of one only because some of the poems turned out nicely in spite of the authors' efforts.
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