tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post4996188608600558347..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: EveningStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-73372130507044223052012-08-01T20:06:17.281-07:002012-08-01T20:06:17.281-07:00Mary: thank you very much for visiting, and for yo...Mary: thank you very much for visiting, and for your thoughts. I like the anecdote about your professor!<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-16284025759997720182012-08-01T08:24:25.025-07:002012-08-01T08:24:25.025-07:00Abend was always a favorite in my much younger day...Abend was always a favorite in my much younger days- still hits a chord on certain older days as well. I remember my German language professor sniffing and saying Rilke was a woman's poet. He didn't mean it kindly.<br />Thanks for the post and for two translations.<br />Marylittlemancathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17042609230502564280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-68485269468714122902012-07-31T20:51:24.496-07:002012-07-31T20:51:24.496-07:00Mr. Sigler: I defer to you on the merits of the re...Mr. Sigler: I defer to you on the merits of the respective translations -- I wondered about "garments" versus "blue coat," for instance, and "inscrutably" versus "inexpressibly" as well. <br /><br />And thank you very much for the link to the audio: it is nice to hear it in German. And the Klee-like graphics are nice as well!<br /><br />Thanks for visiting again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-78026308142542542582012-07-31T20:46:13.106-07:002012-07-31T20:46:13.106-07:00Ms. Aykroyd: thank you for visiting again, and for...Ms. Aykroyd: thank you for visiting again, and for your thoughts. I cannot say that I know Rilke's poetry in depth, and perhaps my view is based on too little knowledge. And I do tend to be inclined toward a lower-key approach, I confess. But, as I suggested, there are things of his that I like.<br /><br />I appreciate you taking the time to stop by.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-84069353519045225842012-07-31T08:31:43.519-07:002012-07-31T08:31:43.519-07:00Wow! Jarrell's is the better poem, Mitchell...Wow! Jarrell's is the better poem, Mitchell's is the more faithful translation, but neither quite gets the shock of the opening stanza that as one watches the evening change its clothes (literal meaning) one becomes separated (divorced) from nature. But Rilke is one of the most famously difficult of poets to translate. He usually comes off in English as spacey, obscure and abstract; I think that is in equal measure the nature of the German language and the concern in Rilke for the inexpressible - the sound sometimes conveys more than the literal meaning. Which brings me to my larger point: Rilke's German is as beautiful as any poetry in any language - he makes German do things it shouldn't be able to do, and conveys (even to those who can't understand German) something deep and singular in the uncanny way the words flow together. <br /><br />This poem ("Abend") is not quite at the level of his later, more mature work, but it's worth listening to, I think, in German:<br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/rXfInyUsd9w" rel="nofollow">Abend</a>WAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10403669322174979974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-29861477087358978142012-07-31T02:19:18.794-07:002012-07-31T02:19:18.794-07:00I've adapted a line from this poem for the tit...I've adapted a line from this poem for the title of my own blog on poetry, The Stone and the Star (http://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.co.uk/). I am actually still relatively new to Rilke but it seemed like the right title. <br /><br />To a certain extent I agree that he can seem overwrought...he's perhaps more of a Romantic than I'm naturally inclined to. But the truth in his poetry is so striking and I relate to so much of it that I knew I'd have to explore further when I started reading him.Clarissa Aykroydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com