Rilke's Lyrics
Poems. By Rainer Maria Rilke. Translated by J. B. Leishmarm (The Hogarth Press. 3s. tid.) RILKE is one of the most significant of modern poets. His work is difficult, but it has meanings which may easily be conveyed in translation : the poems express a philosophy which is to some extent independent of the poetry itself: and he makes constant use of an imagery which is as powerful in other languages as in the original (in this respect he
resembles the French symbolists).
The opening stanza of the first poem in this book contains a picture which is mysteriously loaded with the " idea," because as a symbol it is so individual and compelling : " There, where the line of cottages grows thin, And' the new narrow-chested houses thrust Through crazy scaffolding and choking dust To ask each other where the fields begin."
Even in English, this is full of Rilke's peculiar idiom. Ills way of presenting objects has the intensity of crystal gazing.
He seems to see the object until it becomes transparent, and then to see a purposive reality beyond it. The houses acquire
the personality of the people who live in them, or, rather, because they are at the edge of the field, they represent the fringe of civilization. In the German this is made much clearer Des ist dont we die letzten Iluetten rind, Rilke begins : and one cannot help wondering why Mr. Leishmann has omitted the dramatic Das ist. Also the fact that they are the very lash cabins has significance for Rilke—they are, as the economists would say, on the margin of productivity. " Where the line
of cottages grows thin," does not entirely convey this.
Yet in spite of the occasional thinness of translation, Mr. Leishmann is, on the whole, to be congratulated on his fidelity to the original : because, undoubtedly, in translating
such a poet, the closest attention to Rilke's words and to the visual effect of the German nouns, is essential : it is more important even than form, because in the poems themselves form has been sacrificed : and it is more important than any circuitous attempt to " get across " Rilke's philosophy because the philosophy is implicit in the visual content.
Wherever Mr. Leishmann has neglected this rule, his writing is weak. Too often he sacrifices the very particular note of Rilke's writing, and substitutes a vague generalization. For instance, he translates nicht mehr des breiten Belies Duff trod Eiland as " no longer the broad couch's scented island " ; 6. scented island " robs the word " island " of its striking position in the line : the correct and obvious translation of the line is " No more the broad bed's scent and island " which has the full force of the German original.
This book is too sweepingly entitled Poems. It contains a very inadequate and even an unrepresentative selection of Rilke's poetry. There is no introduction explaining the prin- ciple Mr. Leishmann adopted in making his selection, and none of the very important events of Rilke's life are indicated : for Rilke's experiences are deliberately and to a remarkable degree bound up with his poetry. The reader who is interested should, therefore, read the translation of the imaginative journal called Mahe Laurids Brigge in conjunction with this volume.
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