[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”1612610765″ locale=”us” height=”333″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kyQjGM13L.jpg” width=”222″ alt=”Rainer Maria Rilke” ]“I believe in everything that has not yet been said”
A Featured Review of
Prayers of a Young Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke.
Translated and with an introduction by Mark S. Burrows
Hardback: Paraclete Press, 2012.
Buy now: [ [easyazon-link asin=”1612610765″ locale=”us”]Amazon[/easyazon-link] ] [ [easyazon-link asin=”B009XIKUMS” locale=”us”]Kindle[/easyazon-link] ]
Review by Caitlin Michelle Desjardins
The hour bows down and stirs me
With a clear and ringing stroke;
My senses tremble. I feel that I can—
And I seize the forming day.
Between September 20 and October 14, 1899, Rainer Maria Rilke feverishly composed a cycle of prayers, in the form of poems written by an anonymous Russian Orthodox monk, that we now know as the first part of his famous Book of Hours. Yet the Book of Hours as we have it now, with Rilke’s own revisions, doesn’t include Rilke’s own original annotations that give the date of composition and short epigraphs that suggest something of the poems’ originations. These epigraphs, written from the perspective of the Monk, often suggest insights and signify the thrust of the poem itself. Rilke’s poetry is, in many ways, an exercise in openness and doesn’t always lend any clear “meaning” so much as give a sense of divinity, humanity and the wideness of life. These epigraphs, restored in this new edition of Rilke’s prayers (originally titles simple “die Gebete” or “the Prayers), don’t undermine the expanse of Rilke’s poetry or offer any kind of didactic “meaning”, yet they do helpfully turn our head a bit, and offer new insights into the poems themselves and Rilke’s spirit and imagination as he write them.
Prayers of a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated and with an introduction and closing essay by Mark S. Burrows, is a beautiful new collection from Paraclete worthy of procurement by any fan of Rilke’s, or anyone seeking a spacious spirituality that “loves the questions”. Written a few years before his famous letters to the young poet, Franz Kappus, that have garnered Rilke particular fame, the title of Burrow’s translations would perhaps most properly be “Prayers of an older Russian Orthodox monk” (however awkward), as Rilke very intentionally placed these prayers and poems in that voice, not his own (though one is swept again and again through themes, language and striking images that are wholly Rilke). Rilke wrote them upon returning from a stay in Russia, with friends—including the lady who he first presented these poems to as a gift and perhaps was quite enthralled, and even involved, with—that clearly affected him deeply.
*** [easyazon-link keywords=”Rainer Maria Rilke” locale=”us”]Other Books by Rainer Maria Rilke[/easyazon-link]
“My paths lead to the east—“ Rilke writes in poem 49, and indeed the poems are an exploration of the stirring spirituality he found in the east. The fact that he chose the put these prayers in the mouth of a seasoned Orthodox monk allows for a certain retrospection, and exploration Rilke pulls off vividly, of what it would mean to give ones whole life to that eastern spirituality he had encountered. How might one reflect on a life such lived?
CLICK HERE to continue reading on Page 2…
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
Understanding Christian Nationalism [A Reading Guide] |
 Most Anticipated Books of the Fall for Christian Readers!
|
 Hilarious One-Star Customer Reviews of Bibles |
