Millions of people died during the Second World War. . It is especially clear from the deliberate contrast which he drew between the message of the Elegies and Christianity. Wir trinken uns leer, wir geben uns hin, wir breiten uns aus- bis einmal unsere Ge- sten in winkenden Wipfeln sind und unser Lacheln in den Kidern aufersteht, die darunter spielen . He taught theology and philosophy at the University of Berlin, University of Tübingen, and University of Munich. Its meaning is not confined to the age of the hero Chri- stoph Rilke; it encompasses the process of writing the prose-poem itself, which Rilke paraphrased in the same letter in a poem dedi- cated to Schreier's daughter Eva: It grew to such an extent that any criticism of Rilke was in danger of being ignored or rejected out of hand. Rainer Maria Rilkes Blaue Hortensie. How can one help feeling increased reverence and infinite gratitude for such experiences in one’s own life. Click EDIT to add/edit tags. 19. und 20. In all three versions he enters the final battle without his tunic: "Der Waffenrock ist im Schlosse ver- brannt, der Brief und das Rosenblatt einer fremden Frau-" (69). Slowness and pensive- ness, solemnity and determination- terms Rilke used in his diary to designate poetic activity. Rilke’s work is highly relevant to modern Man. The young Cornet Christoph Rilke is a por- trait of an artist. The imagery of the lonely, fighting soldier lends itself to depicting the heroic valor of Rilke's concept of the artist. An undertaking of this kind may be difficult to understand today. In einer Nacht, einer Herbstnacht vor fiinfundzwanzig Jahren, hingeschrieben, stellt diese Arbeit nicht vie1 mehr vor als eine Improvi- sation-; sie bestunde schlecht vor mei- nem heutigen Urteil.'. With the metaphor of the garland Rike des- ignates a characteristic feature of Cornet as a whole. Walter Simon (Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 1974) 159; hereafter: Simon. Its meaning is not confined to the age of the hero Chri- stoph Rilke; it encompasses the process of writing the prose-poem itself, which Rilke paraphrased in the same letter in a poem dedi- cated to Schreier's daughter Eva: Ich bin es noch. Laut und langsam setzt er seine Worte. But even within the ranks of those who admired Rilke greatly and who devoted intense study to his works there arose a new critical spirit. "'"'Feeling" becomes understanding, that is, an essentially non-con- ceptual mode of perception. (This subject will be treated outside this article. Already in the aesthetic program of the young Rilke the figure of the circle, the ring, is of considerable importance. It describes a captured panther behind bars, as it was exhibited in the Ménagerie of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. The majority of critics read the book as the tale of a young, heroic soldier, the account of the brave Cornet's short life: Ein groCles Geschehen, Erwachen des Junglings zum Leben, Erfullung des Le- bens durch Liebe und mannhafte Tat, Vollendung im Tod . 4: 320. Es ist eine große Ehre für den jungen Mann. The problem may be put as follows. Knowing that the completion of the Elegies was of vital importance, he waited for his inspiration to return, but in vain. 1: 291. From the very center of the events, he produces his own world-a lonely act of spatial and tem- poral distancing from the external world as well as one of beautification of reality. Here somebody talks to a group of people, conscientiously selecting and set- ting his words. [3] There was something violent and sudden—something almost dangerous as well—about the way in which Rilke wrote the Elegies. Adalbert Schmidt commits the same error when he reduces the influence of Jugendstil on Cornet to the domain of stylistics: "Einzelne Passagen aus der 'Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Riike' sind dafur beispielhaft. Ich weilJ, der Weg ist noch lang; aber in meinen besten Traumen sehe ich den Tag, da ich mich empfangen werde." ." But the smaller circle of devotees recognized the Elegies and the Sonnets to Orpheus as the work of the real Rilke who also expressed himself in the Later Poems. After Neue Gedighte (1907-08, New Poems) he wrote a notebook named Die Aufzechnungen des Malte Laurdis Brigge (1910), his most important prose work. Such an assessment can only be achieved by comparing the essen- tial features of this text to similar and identical ones in Rilke's other writings. These poems express the experiences and ideas of perhaps the most sensitive and subtle German poet of modern times. The task of interpreting the Duino Elegies is not an easy one. .Iq. The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke. Fuhlende bleiben, was sie fiihlend sind. Such an examination might be made by direct application of the yardstick of religion. It seems to be this strong adherence of Cornet to the aes- thetic program of Jugendstil that was respon-, sible for Rilke's ambivalent stance toward the piece. The artist does not experience his working as a truly happy, suc- cessful event until now: "Dann wird es weit in ihm und festlich, und er schuf das wiirdige Heim fir-sich selbst." In a letter to Marie von Thurn und Taxis, Rilke communicates such an experi- ence: Ich las eine Hymne eines poeta ignoto . Hence the task of interpreting the Elegies necessarily involves us in another task which cannot be dismissed lightly—that of defining our attitude to their content. Several critics have described Rilke's work as "mystical". Sogar das Spucken hort auf. In his in- terpretation of Rilke, Maurice Blanchot em- phasizes the identity of the space of death and the realm of artistic expression.