RILKE, Rainer Maria.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Die Sonette an Orpheus (The Sonnets to Orpheus). First edition of the work that, along with the Duino Elegies, is considered Rilke's masterpiece. The anthology is dedicated to the 9 year old Wera Ouckama Knoop, a playmate of Rilke's daughter Ruth, the death of whom provided inspiration for these poems, composed in what the author described as a "savage creative storm" in February 1922. The poet dedicated them as a "grab-mal", literally a "grave-marker".An early reader has loosely inserted a dried edelweiss flower and a piece of notepaper with handwritten poetry.

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