First Poems

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 94K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Erste Gedichte by Rainer Maria RilkeAuthor: ,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Sep 30, 2010

Editor's review

Erste Gedichte is a collection of Rilke's early poems in the original German, published as a public-domain eBook by Project Gutenberg. These works were written before the poet's style had fully matured, with high emotional intensity and imagery leaning toward traditional lyricism: homeland, love, solitude, religious feeling, and natural scenery recur throughout. For readers studying the evolution of Rilke's craft, this collection offers a reference point for observing his linguistic sensibilities before the Neue Gedichte; for general readers, it is more like a door into German lyric poetry—short in length and suited to slow reading. Note that the early poems are more regular in form and more direct in theme, clearly different from the condensed imagery and complex syntax of Rilke's middle and later style. Read them with the eye of "seeing how he started" rather than judging them by the standards of his mature period.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary scholars studying the path of Rilke's development
Learners with German who want to read lyric poetry in the original
Readers interested in German literature and late nineteenth-century poetics
General readers who enjoy short poems and are willing to read slowly and closely

Not a good fit for

Readers with no German at all and no parallel translation
Readers expecting Rilke's representative mature works
Readers who prefer narrative or strongly plotted texts

Reading tips

Read through the collection in its original order to get a sense of the overall emotional tone, then return to the pieces you liked for a closer reading.
Read alongside one or two reliable Chinese translations, paying attention to how the translator handles imagery and rhyme.
After every few poems, note in one sentence the images that recur, and observe how concentrated the early themes are.
After finishing, compare one poem with a work from Rilke's middle or later period to appreciate the change in language and style.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in German or Chinese?

According to the information, the book is in German and is a public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg; no Chinese translation is indicated. Chinese readers will need their own translation for comparison or some ability to read German.

Is it suitable as an introduction to Rilke?

It can serve as material for understanding his starting point, but these are early poems in a style not yet mature. To get to know Rilke's representative achievements, it is advisable to read his middle and later works as well, then come back to this collection.

What do the early poems have in common?

Judging from the information and general knowledge of public-domain works, these early poems mostly concern emotion, homeland, love, and nature; their form is more regular and their lyricism more direct, contrasting with the condensed, restrained object-poetry style of his later work. They are well suited to observing the evolution of the poet's linguistic sensibilities.

Comments

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