Synopses & Reviews
Long dissatisfied with the highly romatical and often obscure translations in English of Rilke's great poem cycle, brother and sister Willam and Mary Crichton determined to work toward a translation that would be as straightforward and transparent, yet as lyrically beautiful as Rilke's German original. Working over the years, the Crichtons have produced a work in English worthy of Rilke's Duino Elegies, written at Duino near Trieste beginning in 1912 and completed in Switzerland in 1922. Rilke considered this one of his greatest achievements.
William Crichton lives in Toronto; Mary Crichton lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Synopsis
A new translation of the great Rilke cycle of poems.
Synopsis
Poetry. Translated from the German by Mary C. Crichton and Will Crichton. Long dissatisfied with the highly romantic and often obscure translations in English of Rilke's great work, brother and sister Will and Mary C. Crichton determined to create a translation at once straightforward and transparent, yet as lyrically beautiful as Rilke's German Original. Started in Duino near Trieste in 1912 and completed in Switzerland in 1922, Rilke considered the Duino Elegies as one of his greatest achievements.
About the Author
Rainer Maria Rilke (also Rainer Maria von Rilke) (4 December 1875 - 29 December 1926) is considered one of the German language's greatest 20th century poets. His haunting images focus on the difficulty of communion with the ineffable in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety - themes that tend to position him as a transitional figure between the traditional and the modernist poets. He wrote in both verse and a highly lyrical prose. His two most famous verse sequences are the Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies; his two most famous prose works are the Letters to a Young Poet and the semi-autobiographical The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. He also wrote more than 400 poems in French, dedicated to his homeland of choice, the canton of Valais in Switzerland.