The Complete French Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke

tr A Poulin Jr, bilingual

Rainer Maria Rilke was born in Prague in 1875 and traveled throughout Europe for much of his adult life, returning frequently to Paris. There he came under the influence of the sculptor Auguste Rodin and produced much of his finest verse, most notably the two volumes of New Poems as well as the great modernist novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. Among his other books of poems are The Book of Images and The Book of Hours. He lived the last years of his life in Switzerland, where he completed his two poetic masterworks, the Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. He died of leukemia in December 1926.

The acclaimed poet, translator, critic, and publisher A. Poulin, Jr., was born in Maine in 1938. A Professor of English at the State University of New York College of Brockport, he received a translator's grant from The National Endowment for the Arts, among many other honors. His books include In Advent: Poems; A. Poulin, Jr., Selected Poems; and the widely used textbook Contemporary American Poetry, which he edited. Poulin was also the founding editor/publisher of BOA Editions. He died in 1996.