Oberlin College Press

Rainer Maria Rilke

THE UNKNOWN RILKE: EXPANDED EDITION (translated by Franz Wright)

Paper $14.95 (ISBN 0-932440-56-8)

Rilke's importance to the history of literature in the twentieth century is based on the power and memorability of his lyrics, and on his successful struggle to articulate a new vision of the human relation to the rest of creation.

Franz Wright's brilliant translations of some of Rilke's neglected poems are now well-known and admired. They are here enhanced by an additional selection and by a new introduction by the translator.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Franz Wright is also the author of Ill Lit: Selected and New Poems.

BEFORE THE SUMMER RAIN

Abruptly, nobody knows what it is, something's
subtracted from the greenness of the park;
you feel it edging closer to the window
without a sound. But pressing and intense,

out of the woods comes the song of a plover,
someone's Jerome comes to mind:
so much passion and solitude rise
from this single voice, which the downpour

will answer. The walls of the hall
have stepped back with their portraits, as though
they weren't allowed to hear us speak.

The faded tapestries reflect
the undecided light of late afternoons
you felt afraid in when you were a child.

--Rainer Maria Rilke
translated by Franz Wright