Rilke, Rainer Maria

Sonnets to Orpheus

In 55 sonnets, Rainer Maria Rilke plays an astonishing set of philosophical and sensual variations on the Orpheus myth. ‘Praising, that’s it!’ he declares; nature, art, love, time, childhood, technology, poverty, justice – all are encompassed in poems that spark with insight, among the most joyful and light-footed that Rilke ever wrote.