The rilke alphabet

264 Pages·2014·1.19 MB·English

by  Baer

the rilke alphabet
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The
Rilke Alphabet
ULRICH BAER
Translated by Andrew Hamilton
fordham university press
2014
NewYork
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Copyright(cid:2)2014FordhamUniversityPress
TheRilkeAlphabetwaspreviouslypublishedinGermanasDasRilkeAlphabet(cid:2)Suhrkamp
VerlagFrankfurtamMain2006.AllrightsreservedbyandcontrolledthroughSuhrkamp
VerlagBerlin.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
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LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013957597
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1
Firstedition
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contents
ListofAbbreviations vii
Preface: ‘‘TheWholeDictationofExistence’’ ix
Acknowledgments xv
a 1
forAshanti
b 10
forBuddha
c 27
forCircle
d 36
forDestinyDisrupted
e 45
forEntrails
f 53
forFrogs
g 61
forGod
h 71
forHair
i 76
forInca
j 87
forJewBoy
k 104
forKafkaand KingLear
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contents
l 111
forLarean
m 116
forMussolini
n 125
forNature
o 132
forO
p 133
forProletarian
q 139
forQuatsch
r 146
forRose
s 149
forStampa
t 162
forTower
u 171
forUn-
v 178
forVagabond,orBeingOutside
w 192
forWorm
x 200
forXaver
y 203
forY
z 204
forZero
215
Notes
233
WorksCited
241
Index
vi
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abbreviations
AllworksarebyRainerMariaRilkeunlessotherwisenoted.
AAP AheadofAllParting:TheSelectedPoetryandProseofRainerMaria
Rilke
1980
ALT Briefe( )
ANI RilkeandAnitaForrer, Briefwechsel
BOI TheBookofImages
BSF BriefeandieSchweizerFreunde
BZP BriefezurPolitik
GB GesammelteBriefe
HAT RilkeandMagdavonHattingberg,Briefwechselmit Magdavon
Hattingberg
1991
NAL Briefe( )
2
JBL SelectedWorks,Volume :Poetry
KA Werke
LOL LettersonLife
LOU RilkeandLouAndreas-Salome´,Briefwechsel
LYP LetterstoaYoungPoet
MLB TheNotebooksofMalteLauridsBrigge
NP NewPoems
POR ThePoetry ofRilke
SID BriefeanSidonieNa´dherny´ vonBorutin
SIZ BriefeanGra¨finSizzo
SW Sa¨mtlicheWerke
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abbreviations
TAX RilkeandMarievon ThurnundTaxis,Briefwechsel
UP UncollectedPoems
WUN BriefeanNannyWunderly-Volkart
viii
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preface the whole
: ‘‘
dictation of existence
’’
iktat des aseins
‘‘D D ’’
ThelongerIlive,themoreurgentitseemstometoendureand
transcribethewholedictationofexistence[dasganzeDiktatdes
Daseins]uptoitsend,foritmightjustbethecasethatonly
theverylastsentencecontainsthatsmallandpossibly
inconspicuouswordwhichtransformsintomagnificentsense
everythingwehadstruggledtolearnandeverythingwehadfailed
tounderstand.1
21 1913
RilkewrotethesewordstoIlseErdmannon December , ,closeto
theendofayearduringwhichhe hadmetSigmundFreudinperson,
spentmoretimewithLou Andreas-Salome´, anddrafteda poemthathe
wouldnotcompleteforanotherdecadeasthefirstoftheDuinoelegies.
Bywriting down‘‘thewholedictation ofexistence,’’Rilkehopesto
registerthoseexperiencesthatwe normallygothroughwithoutnoticing.
Donotoverlook anything,payattentiontoeverything,spellitalloutup
tothemost minusculeand negligiblewordandletter: ThatisRilke’s
aestheticmottoandhis guideforlife. Inorder nottomissanythingor
getdistractedinthetaskof livingmindfully andhonestly,thepoetmust
notdecideinadvancebetweenimportantandunimportantthings.Hehas
towriteintheconvictionthateachexperienceandeverywordpossesses
avalueallitsown.
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preface: ‘‘the whole dictation of existence’’
Rilke’sambitiontocopydown theentire ‘‘dictationofexistence’’rests
inan animisticthought,asifthegreateruniverse findsinushumans its
diligent secretaries,whoselowlyservicecanfindthekeytotheuniverse’s
hiddenmeaningaslong aswedon’tmissaword.Poetry becomesthe
record oftheuniverse,andoneofthecountlesswordsinthisgreat and
faithfultranscriptionmightrevealtheuniverse’shiddenmeaningtous.
Thelanguageofpoetrydoesnotturnawayfromtheworld towarda
greater,transcendentMeaningbutopensuptheworld,and opensusto
theimmanence oftheworld,inwhich welive.ThisisRilke’sambition:
towriteattentivelyabouttheworld inthehopethatour lives,asweare
already livingthem, mightbetransformed‘‘intomagnificentsense.’’
This bookhonorsRilke’scalltocopydownthedictationof existence.
The RilkeAlphabetpresentstwenty-six wordsthatcastnewlighton
Rilke’soeuvre(includinghispoetry,prose,and letters)fromunexpected
angles. Someofthechaptersexamine whatscholarsandcriticshave
‘‘struggledtolearn,’’toadaptRilke’stermforouroftenreflexivetendency
toresolveanychallengebyrelyingonsecondhandopinionsandcommon-
places,while otherchaptersopenoureyesandearstowhatmanyreaders
have‘‘failed tounderstand.’’2Manyreadershavenotyet graspedRilke’s
poetrybecausetheyhaveelevatedhis poetryabovelifeand searchfor‘‘a
magnificentsense’’andinspirationinbooks ofRilke’sversesinsteadof
graspingthatRilke’spoetry,evenwhenaddressingflamingos,angels,and
hydrangeas,pressesusmoredeeplyintolife.Rilkecopiesdown the
dictationofexistenceas‘‘thesecretaryoftheinvisible’’(inhisownmemo-
rable phrase),yet eachoneof thewordsexaminedhere showsthatthis
secretaryknowsushumans tobephysical,mortalbeingsatonceblessed
and trappedinourhumanbodieswithdesires, longings,andfears.
Thisworktakesitsorigininmanyyearsofstudyandinadeeplysensory
experienceof readingRilke.It showsbuttwothings.First, itshowsthat
Rilke, thepoetwhoamongmodernpoetsmostinsistentlyandconvinc-
ingly promisessalvationandevenredemptionwithinourdisenchanted,
secularmodernity(andnotinanotherreligionorideology,noteven that
of‘‘art’’), hadabody.Second,italsodemonstratesthatwhenitcomesto
poetryandlife, asinglewordmay changeeverything.One wordmay
upendyoursenseofyourselfandendyourworldinitsentirety.Onesingle
word.Thatispoetry’sinsistence,anditisthereasonwhywetendtoturn
topoetry,Rilke’sinmanycases,atmomentsoftransition,orwhendue
toacalamityorlossitseemsthatonewayofbeingintheworldhasended
x
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