Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke (Modern Library) (English & German Edition) (English and German Edition)

The reputation of Rainer Maria Rilke has grown steadily since his death in 1926; today he is widely considered to be the greatest poet of the twentieth century. This Modern Library edition presents Stephen Mitchells acclaimed translations of Rilke which have won praise for their re-creation of the poets rich formal music and depth of thought. If Rilke had written in English Denis Donoghue wrote in The New York Times Book Review he would have written in this English. Ahead of All Parting is an abundant selection of Rilkes lifework. It contains representative poems from his early collections The Book of Hours and The Book of Pictures; many selections from the revolutionary New Poems which drew inspiration from Rodin and Cezanne; the hitherto little-known Requiem for a Friend; and a generous selection of the late uncollected poems which constitute some of his finest work. Included too are passages from Rilkes influential novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge and nine of his brilliant uncollected prose pieces. Finally the book presents the poets two greatest masterpieces in their entirety: the Duino Elegies and The Sonnets to Orpheus. Rilkes voice with its extraordinary combination of formality power speed and lightness can be heard in Mr. Mitchells versions more clearly than in any others said W. S. Merwin. His work is masterful.