Does the night not blow cool,
splendidly distant,
moving across the centuries.
Raise the area of feeling.
Suddenly the angels
see the harvest.
In 1916, Rainer Maria Rilke presented his friend Rudolf Kassner with a notebook, containing twenty-two poems meticulously inscribed in his own hand and bearing the title Poems to Night. This evocative sequence of poems, which echoes some of the great themes of German romanticism, is now thought to represent one of the key stages in the creative breakthrough and spiritual evolution of the preeminent European poet of the twentieth century.
This translation was the first to bring all the poems together in English and is enhanced by the translator’s valuable introduction and a rich selection of further poems Rilke dedicated to night at various stages of his life.
Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.
Translated by Will Stone.
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is considered one of the greatest German-language writers to have ever lived. He published his first collection of verse, Leben und Lieder (Life and Songs), in 1894, while he was still at school, and continued to write poetry and prose throughout his life, becoming a master of both. He is perhaps best known for his Duino Elegies, Sonnets to Orpheus, and The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. Rilke died in Switzerland in 1926, after being diagnosed with leukaemia, and was buried in the churchyard of Raron. His chosen epitaph was ‘Rose, oh pure contradiction, to be no-one’s sleep under so many lids.’
Will Stone is a poet, essayist and literary translator. His translations for Pushkin Press include a series of titles by Stefan Zweig, and the books Rilke in Paris and Conversations with Rilke. His essays, reviews and poems have appeared in a range of publications including the TLS, the London Magazine and the Spectator.
[A] gorgeous collection of odes to the night and darkness
ExBerliner
An excellent introduction to Rilke in English, and Will Stone has executed his task with admirable aplomb
London Grip
Rilke pushes language to the outer limits, trying to articulate what can scarcely be portrayed… that mysterious connection which floats between things like a soul
Stefan Zweig
