Sonnets to Orpheus (Bilingual Edition) - Softcover

“Daniel Polikoff is the first to achieve the unimaginable: an English translation which brings the form and content of these Sonnets together into an organic confluence. These new translations lift our understanding of Rilke’s spiritual and aesthetic inspiration up to a whole different level, one accessible for the first time to the English reader. As a professor of German literature who has taught these sonnets for over thirty years, I can only thank Daniel Polikoff for this phenomenal accomplishment. His version should serve as the new standard for Rilke translations and belongs on the bookshelves of every poetry lover.”—LUDWIG MAX FISCHER, author of Seasons of the Soul: The Poetic Guidance of Herman Hesse

“This is a uniquely faithful, skillful, and eloquent translation of one of the greatest poems of the 20th century. I salute Daniel Polikoff and recommend his wonderful work to all seekers and lovers of poetry.”—ANDREW HARVEY, author of Teachings of Rumi

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:

Daniel Joseph Polikoff is a poet, scholar, translator and teacher. He is the author of two books of poetry (Hands of Stars and Dragon Ship), a translation of a dramatic version of the grail legend (Parzival/Gawain: Two Plays), and a major work on Rilke, In the Image of Orpheus: Rilke—A Soul History (Chiron, 2011), which explores Rilke's life and work through the lens of depth psychology. He has lectured on Rilke on numerous occasions in both the U.S. and Germany and taught literature at both the (Waldorf) high school and university level. He lives with his wife Monika and family north of San Francisco.