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A review by rachbreads
Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God by Rainer Maria Rilke
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
I loved the first two books more than the last. I think Rilke's thoughts on God and the divine are so interesting and worth thinking about.
My favorites were:
I, 12: Ich glaube an Alles noch nie Gesagte
I, 51: Du wirst nur mit der Tat erfaßt
II, 1: Dich wundert nicht des Sturmes Wucht
II, 15: Alle, welche dich suchen, versuchen dich
As a note, I read the Anita Barrows & Joanna Macy translation because I thought they did a good job with their translation of Letters to a Young Poet. But I have the same concerns and complaints about this translation as I did the Letters, which is that while their treatment of the German is stellar, I really do not appreciate their editorializing. Adding commentary is one thing, but the fact that they cut out large portions of certain poems simply because they didn't like it or they don't think that's what Rilke meant....he was a poet, it's what he wrote, I'm pretty sure he meant for it to be there. I'm not sure why they feel like the job of a translator is to edit material out, but it really bothers me. If I read more Rilke I'm going to look for other translators.
My favorites were:
I, 12: Ich glaube an Alles noch nie Gesagte
I, 51: Du wirst nur mit der Tat erfaßt
II, 1: Dich wundert nicht des Sturmes Wucht
II, 15: Alle, welche dich suchen, versuchen dich
As a note, I read the Anita Barrows & Joanna Macy translation because I thought they did a good job with their translation of Letters to a Young Poet. But I have the same concerns and complaints about this translation as I did the Letters, which is that while their treatment of the German is stellar, I really do not appreciate their editorializing. Adding commentary is one thing, but the fact that they cut out large portions of certain poems simply because they didn't like it or they don't think that's what Rilke meant....he was a poet, it's what he wrote, I'm pretty sure he meant for it to be there. I'm not sure why they feel like the job of a translator is to edit material out, but it really bothers me. If I read more Rilke I'm going to look for other translators.