RILKE, Rainer Maria (trans.); BROWNING, Elizabeth Barrett.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Sonette nach dem Portugiesischen. First Rilke edition, attractively bound. The book was dedicated to Alice Faehndrich "in memory of joint work" before her death later that same year. Faehndrich "read the original English aloud to acquaint [Rilke] with the sound and prepared prose translations, acting literally as the midwife of these newly created poems" (Freedman, p. 268)."It was fortunate circumstance that made this collaboration possible: Alice, whose mother, Clara Philips, had been English, loved the sonnets particularly well and probably called them to the poet's attention" (Freedman, p. 268).After being fired from his position as Auguste Rodin's secretary, Rilke accepted Faehndrich's invitation to stay at her villa in Capri. During these five months in Capri, Rilke and Faehndrich translated Browning's work.

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