Rilke is the Gibran of German Poets. He's awful and a leach. Spiritualism without soul and elitism without merit. Goes without saying he trekked with Lou Salome to Russia and "admired" the "poverty" of Russian Monks(i.e. their elective Asceticism)--the same Russian Monks who preach anti-intellectualism and worshipped the Authority in the form of the Tsar....Rilke's Naivete also extends to dedicating poems and books to Prussian Noble-women....But Rilke is loved by hare brained people who cannot read his poems and find his naivete, "charming"---As Rilke says, it's gestures not substance--herein lies the key.
How like you to rip into Rilke. Oh BTW - his wife, Lou, had studied with Freud; rejected Friedrich Nietzsche who'd wooed her ... and chose Rainer in marriage. ... It's odd that you'd consider Rilke with such disdain. Your proclivities to classical metaphors are so like his poetic style.
PS Although the Germans claimed Rilke as their own, he was born in Austria-Hungary and I believe he considered Switzerland to be his home ... where he died.
I know the story of Lou Salome, a brilliant and lovely woman. She had bad taste in poets. She chose Paul Ree over Nietzsche and was linked to Freud and ended up with Rilke......Rilke's spiritualism annoys me--He's the St. Thomas a Kempis of modern poets---though he never seriously considered Imitatio Christus--Rilke had classical learning but wrote sterile verses--I'd like to think my work has more fecundity. i.e. it loves the flesh and sensuality as truer and more human than spiritualism--which is just a vehicle to run away from life--again, Rilke's poetics= a song of inhumanity--Try Holderlin, before he went mad, as an antidote to Rilke...
A body mate versus a soul mate is an eternal question of people better than you or I. ... He was borne Rene` and was possibly stifled with gender issues. I'd think you'd identify better with his conflicts and withholdings.
A body mate versus a soul mate is an eternal question of people better than you or I.
I disagree with both points made here. The Literary Celebrities of the past are no better than you and me. And the body is not inferior to something nebular we call "soul".
I don't have conflicts with Rilke as a man. I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I do have problems with his poetry and what it suggests and the ideals it surrounds with airy pomp.
We all have value; and each person serves some purpose. But to believe we are all of equal standing or merit is foolish idealogy.
As far as a body mate versus a soul mate ... I never said one was superior to the other. It is like speaking of romance or love ... one feeds longing the other sates it.
I haven't read enough Rilke to argue intelligently. I know one of my favorite poems was written by him and I found the polar opposite to pompous in it. Although I can see clearly how it might be construed differently.
"Poverty is a great radiance from within..."
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I love this Rilke ... I wish you'd posted the quote in it's entirety.
Rilke is the Gibran of German Poets. He's awful and a leach. Spiritualism without soul and elitism without merit. Goes without saying he trekked with Lou Salome to Russia and "admired" the "poverty" of Russian Monks(i.e. their elective Asceticism)--the same Russian Monks who preach anti-intellectualism and worshipped the Authority in the form of the Tsar....Rilke's Naivete also extends to dedicating poems and books to Prussian Noble-women....But Rilke is loved by hare brained people who cannot read his poems and find his naivete, "charming"---As Rilke says, it's gestures not substance--herein lies the key.
How like you to rip into Rilke. Oh BTW - his wife, Lou, had studied with Freud; rejected Friedrich Nietzsche who'd wooed her ... and chose Rainer in marriage.
... It's odd that you'd consider Rilke with such disdain. Your proclivities to classical metaphors are so like his poetic style.
PS Although the Germans claimed Rilke as their own, he was born in Austria-Hungary and I believe he considered Switzerland to be his home ... where he died.
I know the story of Lou Salome, a brilliant and lovely woman. She had bad taste in poets. She chose Paul Ree over Nietzsche and was linked to Freud and ended up with Rilke......Rilke's spiritualism annoys me--He's the St. Thomas a Kempis of modern poets---though he never seriously considered Imitatio Christus--Rilke had classical learning but wrote sterile verses--I'd like to think my work has more fecundity. i.e. it loves the flesh and sensuality as truer and more human than spiritualism--which is just a vehicle to run away from life--again, Rilke's poetics= a song
of inhumanity--Try Holderlin, before he went mad, as an antidote to Rilke...
A body mate versus a soul mate is an eternal question of people better than you or I.
... He was borne Rene` and was possibly stifled with gender issues. I'd think you'd identify better with his conflicts and withholdings.
A body mate versus a soul mate is an eternal question of people better than you or I.
I disagree with both points made here. The Literary Celebrities of the past are no better than you and me. And the body is not inferior to something nebular we call "soul".
I don't have conflicts with Rilke as a man. I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I do have problems with his poetry and what it suggests and the ideals it surrounds with airy pomp.
We all have value; and each person serves some purpose. But to believe we are all of equal standing or merit is foolish idealogy.
As far as a body mate versus a soul mate ... I never said one was superior to the other. It is like speaking of romance or love ... one feeds longing the other sates it.
I haven't read enough Rilke to argue intelligently. I know one of my favorite poems was written by him and I found the polar opposite to pompous in it. Although I can see clearly how it might be construed differently.
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