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, "the most trustworthy and exhilarating of Rilke's contemporary translators" (Michael Dirda, 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.
| ISBN: | 9781324123460 |
| Publication date: | 22nd May 2026 |
| Author: | Rainer Maria Rilke |
| Publisher: | W.W. Norton and Company an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 368 pages |
| Genres: |
Poetry Poetry by individual poets |
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, "the most trustworthy and exhilarating of Rilke's contemporary translators" (Michael Dirda, 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.
The Book of Hours features in the following genres: Poetry, Poetry by individual poets
The Book of Hours is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Book of Hours was written by Rainer Maria Rilke and published by W.W. Norton and Company an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company
The Book of Hours has 368 pages
£12.59