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The Book of Hours
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Brief Description
Long hailed as a masterwork of modern German literature, The Book of Hours (1905) marks the origin of Rainer Maria Rilke's distinctive voice and vision—where clarity of diction meets unexpected imagery and first-person poetry discovers its full lyric possibility. In these audacious poems, a devout but...
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See moreA gorgeous new translation of the first significant book of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century
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Description
Long hailed as a masterwork of modern German literature, The Book of Hours (1905) marks the origin of Rainer Maria Rilke's distinctive voice and vision—where clarity of diction meets unexpected imagery and first-person poetry discovers its full lyric possibility. In these audacious poems, a devout but candid speaker addresses an ultimately unknowable deity, passing through love, fear, guilt, anger, bewilderment, loneliness, tenderness, and exaltation in his search for meaning.
In this dual-language edition, Edward Snow, described as "the most trustworthy and exhilarating of Rilke's contemporary translators" by Michael Dirda of the Washington Post, makes Rilke's achievement accessible as never before in English. Snow retains a striking fidelity to the German text while also conveying the captivating psychological presence that animates Rilke's best poems.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781324074960
Publisher: WW Norton & Co
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 13 August 2024
Country: United States
Imprint: WW Norton & Co
Contributors:
- Translated by Edward Snow
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 30.0mm
Width: 147.0mm
Height: 218.0mm
Weight: 564g
Pages: 368
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About the Author
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), the author of Sonnets to Orpheus, Duino Elegies and Letters to a Young Poet, was one of the greatest poets of the German language.
Edward Snow received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for his Rilke translations. A professor at Rice University, he lives in Houston, Texas.
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