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Summary: The Impassioned Cry of Human Anguish
Review: Although I consider the DUINO ELEGIES to be one of the world's greatest works of art, there are poems I love and cherish a bit more. None, however, has the power and intensity inherent in this cycle of ten.According to Maria von Thurn und Taxis-Hohenlohe, at whose Castle Duino, near Trieste, on the Adriatic, where Rilke was a guest (translating Dante's gorgeous and limpid VITA NUOVA) , the Elegies were conceived on the morning of 21. January 1912, on a stormy and wind-swept cliff. They weren't completed until ten years later, at Chateau Muzot, in Switzerland's Canton Valais, which borders both Italy and France. The DUINO ELEGIES capture the struggle of man to reconcile his inner torment with the torment of the outer world and to find his own place in that world. Although they don't answer the questions they ask, they do touch our soul, they connect us with something larger than ourselves and, in doing so, they have become timeless and yes, great. While the DUINO ELEGIES contain much that is transcendent in the human spirit, they also contain much that conveys the pure torment and anguish of simply "being human" and anchored to the earth while not really being a part of it. For to be human, says Rilke, is to be more complex that the animals yet less divine than the angels. The DUINO ELEGIES are a passionate and sometimes, tormented cry, to the angels and sky above us and to the earth and sea below, neither of whom Rilke believes hear our impassioned plea. We are trapped between a world of our own making and a world in whose conception we had no part. To be human, Rilke tell us, may mean paying the price of never being at peace with who and what we are. In the DUINO ELEGIES, I think, Rilke asks what he knows can never be answered...at least not completely. But in that asking, he exposes the very core of "humanness" and the terrible anguish and pain that can accompany simply being alive. If you don't read German, finding a really good translation of the DUINO ELEGIES is going to be a problem. Some of the newer ones, I feel, are too loose, not quite formal enough. They cause Rilke's magnificent poetry to lose some of its power, rendering it rather too mundane for my taste. These poems are difficult enough to read and comprehend fully; they consist of torrents of words, unleashed agony, and to "simplify" them with an "easy" translation is only doing them a great disservice. The First Elegy is, I think, one that is most often harmed by careless translations. I'm not a translator, so I can't recommend one translation over another, although I have a slight personal preference for both Leishman's and Snow's, even though they can be quite different (and Snow's is one of the "looser," more modern ones). I would, however, recommend buying a bilingual volume of the DUINO ELEGIES. German really isn't a difficult language for a native English-speaker to understand (after all, English is a Germanic language) and the extra effort put into reading the original German, along with the English translation (whichever you choose), will be well worth it. I know many people who consider the SONNETS TO ORPHEUS to be Rilke's greatest work, eclipsing even the DUINO ELEGIES, but I prefer the Elegies. They are certainly the most impassioned cry of human anguish and imprisonment I have yet to encounter.
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Summary: Good poet - bad translator
Review: Edward Snow is one of the most respected translators of Rilke. He's been working his way through Rilke's poetry and now offers a superb version of the "Duino Elegies," long considered the high point of Rilke's career. There are many existing translations of Rilke's masterpiece, of varying quality. Snow's version reads quite well and compares favorably to acclaimed versions by Mitchell and others.
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Summary: Acclaimed translator gives us the "Duino Elegies"
Review: Edward Snow is one of the most respected translators of Rilke. He's been working his way through Rilke's poetry and now offers a superb version of the "Duino Elegies," long considered the high point of Rilke's career. There are many existing translations of Rilke's masterpiece, of varying quality. Snow's version reads quite well and compares favorably to acclaimed versions by Mitchell and others.
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Summary: Ein Werk für das Unendliche
Review: Rilkes Duineser Elegien stehen an der Spitze, was die poetische Schöpfung des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts betrifft. Sie sind ein metaphysisches Nachdenken über den Menschen und die Realität. Rilke überlegt sich die menschliche Bestimmung. Dafür, dass das Leben eine vorübergehende und peinliche Erfahrung ist, zeigt er uns die Engel als ein überbewusstes Wesen. Im Gegensatz zu dem Menschen wohnen sie an einem offenen Raum. Es gelingt Ihnen das Leben und den Tod zu vereinigen.Dort findet das reine Geschehen statt. Wegen ihres selbstlosen Erlebnis sind die Helden, die Liebenden, die Kinder und die früh Verstorbenen nah daran, nach den Ordnungen der Engel zu gelangen.
Die verkündete Nacht ist zu der Schein-Unsichtbar Verwandlung geneigt, weil sie eine tiefere Wahrnehmung ermöglicht. Rilkes poetische Sprache, Rhythmus und Bildnis sind atemlos.
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Summary: Good poet - bad translator
Review: Yes, Rilke is a genius, whose poetry is abstract and disturbing yet also direct, concise and perfectly written. Unfortunately, Snow's translation does not manage to capture Rilke's power in full flow, as other translators have managed to do so. The Picador edition is especially superior (although still flawed). By all means buy the Elegies, which are among the best pieces of literature of this century, and possibly the best collection of lyric poetry of all time - but if you buy this edition, you might not realise that.
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