The poet rainer maria rilke offers stunning portrayals of angels in his series of poems entitled the duino elegies. A friend showed me the poem the archaic torso of apollo on her phone, and told me, i read this, and i know i want to change my life. Archaic torso of apollo, by rilke we cannot know his legendary head. Poems of rainer maria rilke 1918love song wikisource. We did not know his unheardof head, wherein the apples of his eyes ripened. But from his torso gleaming light is shed as from a candelabrum. Otherwise the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could a smile run through the placid hips and. The first volume, released in 1907 begins with another apollo poem. Sep 20, 2014 ensemble i daily blog cut the poem down to save for time and terrible german pronunciation, haha, but hopefully this will be done well. Sep 22, 2016 posts about archaic torso of apollo written by chris. We mean, who elses name was taken as a tribute by an emo band in the late 90s. In trying to keep in the english to the rhymed metrical regularity of these four poems, i have had to supply words of my own on occasion, to fill out a line or make a rhyme.
One is that a literal, word for word translation seldom works, neither in a poetic, nor in a purely linguistic sense. Basically, the speaker observes a broken statue of the greek god apollo. Apr 15, 2015 archaic torso of apollo is a public domain poem written by rainer maria rilke and read by jessica schneider. Rilkes archaic torso of apollo leads us beyond our mundane and naturalistic concerns, beyond a thinking and doing that seeks to appropriate and masters a natural world. Enter your email address below to download this issue.
Its called a torso of apollo because its a fragment of a statue. We cannot know his legendary headwith eyes like ripening fruit. Archaic torso of apollo poem by rainer maria rilke poem. He describes the dramatic power the ancient statues headless torso has, even though its only a fragment, and feels oddly as though the statue is the one looking at him. Archaic torso of apollo museum of art and archaeology. A defective reading of rilkes archaic torso of apollo. Dec 15, 2015 when my soul touches yours a great chord sings. James pollock on rainer maria rilkes archaic torso of. Archaic torso of apollo is a poem by rainer maria rilke famous for featuring the phrase du mu. We never knew his extraordinary head, with swelling stone eyeballs. Here is a link to the stephen mitchell translation, which i recommend you read before proceeding with the rest. Otherwise the round breast would not blind you with its grace, nor could the softcurved circle of the thighs. And yet his torso is still suffused with brilliance from inside, like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low, gleams in all its power. To faithfully follow its meandering thought means to be led to the very source from which springs narration and metaphor.
In a world of poetry filled with serious and brooding emotypes, rainer maria rilke stands as one of the emoiest. Archaic torso of apollo, a poem written about an encounter with a sculpture, ought to exist itself for its reader like a piece of sculpture or a painting. Archaic torso is the first piece in the second volume or as titled another part of new poems. Rilke ends his sonnet, archaic torso of apollo saying you must change your life. They show rilke aware of the objective world and of the people amongst whom he lives. Apr 11, 2019 fiction, poetry, music, painting, architecture, danceall art came together into a single force and wrenched open my eyes, as in the stunning moment at the end of rilkes great poem archaic torso of apollo. Archaic torso of apollo poem by rainer maria rilke. We will call him kit pronounced keet in the european way. Archaic torso of apollo by rainer maria rilke translated by stephen mitchell we cannot know his legendary head with eyes like ripening fruit. Archaic torso of apollo rainer maria rilke youtube.
Anna margolins i once was a youth ikh bin geven amol a yingling is a fascinating and perplexing yiddish poem, written in new york and published in margolins only published volume, poems lider, in 1929. The precise anatomical detail shows signs of the full statues contrapposto stance. Else scarcely would the curve of chest bedazzle you, soft gasped meanwhile loins could not. Dive deep into rainer maria rilkes archaic torso of apollo with extended. Apollos archaic torso is by a young yorkshire writer, sarah stutt, who recently. That is the creative agenda behind the poem archaic torso of apollo. Search for library items search for lists search for contacts search for a library. As a modern poet rilke would see the world within and the world without as the same aspects of each other. The successor to the archaic kouros, this torso is a powerful illustration of the progress made in the representation of the male nude in the early classical period. Otherwise the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could a smile run through the placid hips and thighs. Its also a form that is inescapably linked to wholeness. Anna margolins, i once was a youth the yiddish book. Originally published in 1907 and 1908 in two volumes, the 200 poems contained in this bilingual single volume represent a period of intense creativity in the poets career.
And yet his torsois still suffused with brilliance from inside. Selected poetry and prose of rainer maria rilke translated by stephen mitchell modern library 1995 download a pdf here. Nov 15, 2010 this weeks poem is a new english translation of rainer maria rilkes sonnet archaischer torso apollos. If this were not so, the bow of his breast could not blind you, nor could a smile, steered by the gentle curve. After reading rilkes archaic torso of apollo the sun. And yet his torso is still suffused with brilliance from inside, like a lamp, in which his gaze, now. Archaic torso of apollo translations we never knew his fantastic head, where eyes like apples ripened. If we select your entry, youll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by david lehman. Archaic torso of apollo and the poet by rainer maria rilke. And yet his torso is still suffused with brilliance f. Archaic torso of apollo we cannot know his legendary head.
Poems of rainer maria rilke 1918archaic torso of apollo. Archaic torso of apollo, by rainer maria rilke read by. Thats appropriate, because rilkes archaic torso of apollo is about looking at something old, something that many others have looked at. Archaic torso of apollo by rainer maria rilke poems. Poems of rainer maria rilke 1918 wikisource, the free online. Archaic torso of apollo a favorite rilke poem that also. We cannot know his legendary head with eyes like ripening fruit.
Archaic torso of apollo is a public domain poem written by rainer maria rilke and read by jessica schneider. Poems of rainer maria rilke 1918 wikisource, the free. Gwynn is a poet and sometime translator living in beaumont, tx, where he is retired from teaching at lamar university. So the sonnet form prepares us to be convinced of something, it prepares us for a turn, and archaic torso of apollo has the sharpest last minute turn in sonnet history. In a hammock at william duffys farm in pine island, minnesota saying i have wasted my life. These angelic characters have an uncanny resemblance to the history and longing of the human condition and can be interpreted in many. Booklistranier maria rilke is one of the worlds bestselling poets, and rilke. Pdf a brief look at archaic torso of apollo temiz frekans. We cannot fathom his mysterious head, through the veiled eyes no flickering ray is sent. For rilke, to observe a work of art is also to be observed by it, and that sense of mutual evaluation c. Rainer maria rilke archaischer torso apollos lyrics. Archaic torso of apollo by rainer maria rilke we cannot know his legendary head with eyes like ripening fruit. James pollock on rainer maria rilkes archaic torso of apollo. On archaic torso of apollo academy of american poets.
These poems, many of them sonnets, are often intensely focused on the visual. Aber sein torso gluht noch wie ein kandelaber, in dem sein. Apr 12, 2014 the archaic torso of apollo by rainer maria rilke is a poem of great power. Typically, in translating poetry, there are several issues a poet encounters. Archaic torso of apollo summary events are kind of a nonissue here. In his preface, krisak tells readers he came to rilkes new poems when he was asked to translate the archaic torso of apollo for a class. So, lets look anew at a 110yearold work by rainer maria rilke. Both the sculpture and the poem serve as models for the reader, defining how the reader might be or, in fact, ought to be. Posts about rainer marie rilke archaic torso of apollo. Archaic torso of apollo rainer maria rilke translated by stephen mitchell we cannot know his legendary head with eyes like ripening fruit. In rilkes poem archaic torso of apollo, what did he really. The surprising shock of the final words you must change your life. The poem describes with preternatural clarity the unique and miraculous moment when an ordinary, quotidian, taskoriented world gives way to a festive one and when a first global and generic.
Eurydice, hermes, and archaic torso of apollo to name a few, are worthwhile additions to the enormous body of rilkes work already translated by others. The archaic torso of apollo by rainer maria rilke is a poem of great power. Dec 15, 2015 we cannot fathom his mysterious head, through the veiled eyes no flickering ray is sent. The piraeus apollo is a product of the late archaic period 530480 bc, and is among the few bronzes from that time period have survived.
Ruth stone ends a moment saying you do not want to repeat my life. That some spot in darkness could be found that does not vibrate wheneer your depth sound. View archaic torso of apollo from english 102 at queensborough community college, cuny. Broken in antiquity, the piece was repaired in the. Even so his torso s lasting candelabraglow, in which his gaze, with light held back, instead holds fast and shines. It is also quoted by miriam, played by gena rowlands, in woody allens 1988 film another woman. It is also thought to be a very rare survival of a piece that may have been actually used as the cult image in a greek temple. Archaic torso of apollo, rainer maria rilke, translated by stephen mitchell. Archaic torso of apollo the art and popular culture. Aug 18, 2016 the poem is, among other things, about the power of art. We cannot know his legendary head the academy of american poets is the largest membershipbased nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
That is a dangerous business, putting your own words into the mouth of a great poet. Jean murley en102 march 31, 2016 archaic torso of apollo 1. Philip roth s 1972 novella the breast concludes with rilkes poem. In what follows we will read rilkes archaic torso of apollo as an ode to this miracle of transcendence that marks us as distinctly human. Discussion of themes and motifs in rainer maria rilkes archaic torso of apollo. In archaic torso of apollo the transfixed poet finds the torso full of life and vitality, a complete work of art and suggestive of the modernist tradition. Apollos archaic torso poem by leo yankevich poem hunter. And here is the view from inside the foyer of the louvre in paris, looking up and out through the rightsideup pyramid. Archaic torso of apollo poem rainer maria rilke poems. If we back away a bit and put archaic torso into its publication context, maybe the translation choice can be clarified.
Archaic torso of apollo we cannot know his legendary head with eyes like ripening fruit. The shoulders are like the capital of a pillar in a ruined temple, thats lost the architrave it used to hold up. In poempoetry, wednesday writing prompt, writing prompt. Mandel, siegfried 1964 notes on the translations of rilkes archaic torso of apollo, criticism. Archaic torso of apollo is a sonnet divided into four stanzas, the first two stanzas containing four lines each, the last two containing three each. This poems titlearchaic torso of apollohas art and culture written all over it. Archaic torso of apollo by rainer marie rilke and your wednesday writing prompt.
The poem is generally considered to be an example of ekphrasis. Notes on translations of archaic torso of apollo by. Archaic torso of apollo we cannot know his legendary head wherein eyeapples ripened. In the first sentence of section 1 of the birth of tragedy, nietzsche urges us to think about art in relation to life in a new way.
New years is a time to look at where ones been and to look anew, to make resolutions and changes. As you can see, it had not started raining yet, at the time i took this photo, so its a cheerier photo than the one i shared two days ago in my post about the mona lisa. We cannot know his incredible head, where the eyes ripened like apples, yet his torso still glows like a candelabrum, from which his gaze, however dimmed, still persists and gleams. The borders of itself is an exhibit i put together for the campanella gallery at park university in kansas city. Neue gedichte is a twopart collection of poems written by bohemianaustrian poet and novelist rainer maria rilke 18751926. It is from this same source that springs a human world.