RILKE, RAINER MARIA

born Dec. 4, 1875, Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic] died Dec. 29, 1926, Valmont, Switz. original name Ren Maria Rilke Austro-German poet who became internationally famous with such works as Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. Additional reading Rilke's voluminous correspondence may be sampled in Gesammelte Briefe, ed. by Ruth Sieber-Rilke and Carl Sieber, 6 vol. (193640); Briefe, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1966); Letters to a Young Woman (1945); Letters to a Young Poet, rev. ed. (1954, reissued 1993); and Letters, trans. by Jane Bannard Greene and M.D. Herter Norton, 2 vol. (1969).Biographies include J.R. von Salis, Rainer Maria Rilke: The Years in Switzerland (1964; originally published in German, 1952), which treats only the last part of Rilke's life in detail; J.F. Hendry, The Sacred Threshold: A Life of Rainer Maria Rilke (1983); Wolfgang Leppmann, Rilke: A Life (1984); Donald Prater, A Ringing Glass: The Life of Rainer Maria Rilke (1986, reissued 1993); and David Kleinbard, The Beginning of Terror: A Psychological Study of Rainer Maria Rilke's Life and Work (1993).Among the critical works on Rilke in English, the following are prominent: E.M. Butler, Rainer Maria Rilke (1941, reissued 1973); H.W. Belmore, Rilkes's Craftsmanship: An Analysis of His Poetic Style (1954); H.F. Peters, Rainer Maria Rilke: Masks and the Man (1960, reprinted 1977); Eudo Colecestro Mason, Rilke, Europe, and the English-Speaking World (1961), and Rilke (1963); Frank Baron, Ernst S. Dick, and Warren R. Maurer (eds.), Rilke: The Alchemy of Alienation (1980), a collection of 14 essays; and Patricia Pollock Brodsky, Rainer Maria Rilke (1988). Hans Egon Holthusen The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica Major Works: Verse. Leben und Lieder: Bilder und Tagebuchbltter (1894); Wegwarten (1896); Larenopfer (1896); Im Frhfrost (1876); Traumgekrnt (1897); Advent (1898); Mir zur Feier (1899; republished with alterations as Die frhen Gedichte, 1909); Das Buch der Bilder (1902; 2nd ed., with 37 additional poems, 1906); Das Stunden-Buch (1905), consisting of Das Buch vom mnchischen Leben, Das Buch von der Pilgerschaft, and Das Buch von der Armut und vom Tode (The Book of Hours, trans. by A.L. Peck, 1961); Neue Gedichte, 2 vol. (190708; New Poems, trans. by J.B. Leishman, 1964); Requiem (1909; Requiem and Other Poems, trans. by J.B. Leishman, 2nd ed., 1949); Das Marienleben (1913; The Life of the Virgin Mary, trans. by Stephen Spender, 1951); Duineser Elegien (1923; Duino Elegies, trans. by J.B. Leishman and Stephen Spender, 4th ed., 1963); Die Sonette an Orpheus (1923; Sonnets to Orpheus, trans. by J.B. Leishman, 2nd ed., 1946); Spte Gedlichte (1934; Later Poems, trans. by J.B. Leishman, 1938); Pomes franais (1935; partial trans., The Roses and the Windows, trans. by A. Poulin, Jr. (1979); Aus dem Nachlass des Grafen C.W. (1950; From the Remains of Count C.W., trans. by J.B. Leishman, 1952). Prose. Vom lieben Gott und Anderes (1900; Stories of God, 1932); Worpswede (1903); Auguste Rodin (1903; Eng. trans. 1919); Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (1906; The Tale of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke, trans. by M.D. Herter Norton, 1932); Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge (1910; The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge, trans. by John Linton, 1930); Aus der Frhzeit Rainer Maria Rilkes: Vers, Prosa, Drame, 18941899 (1921); Ewald Tragy (192728); Erzhlungen und Skizzen aus der Frhzeit (1928). Editions. Gesammelte Werke, 6 vol. (1927); Smtliche Werke, ed. by Ruth Sieber-Rilke, 6 vol. (195566, reissued 1987); Gedichte in franzsischer Sprache (1949); Werke in drei Bnden, 3 vol. (1966, reissued 1991); Selected Works, vol. 1, Prose, trans. by G.C. Houston (1954, reissued 1976), and vol. 2, Poetry, trans. by J.B. Leishman (1960, reissued 1976); Poems, 19061926, trans. by J.B. Leishman, 2nd ed. (1959, reprinted 1966); Possibility of Being: A Selection of Poems, trans. by J.B. Leishman (1977); Nine Plays, trans. by Klaus Phillips and John Locke (1979); Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. by Robert Bly (1981), with five essays by the translator; The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, ed. and trans. by Stephen Mitchell (1982).