The year 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of
Rainer Maria Rilke’s “New Poems,” which were born of Rodin’s influence upon the poet, and in which Rilke redefined modern German poetry through his concept of the Ding-Gedicht (Thing-Poem).
'The Panther' is perhaps the most famous of the New Poems.
Today Rilke pervades many facets of our cultural consciousness in ways we might not even suspect. Noted below are just a few facts that reveal the poet's strong connection to contemporary culture:
Bob Dylan has been reading Rilke
since 1966.
Actor Colin Firth (The English Patient, Bridget Jones’s Diary) has said
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge is one of
his favorite books.
Actress Jodie Foster
adores Letters to a Young Poet. In Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine, she says: “When I feel like a failure or have doubts about my work, this is the sacred book I take off the shelf and unwrap, very delicately.”
Actor Ethan Hawke narrated the
audio edition of
The Poet’s Guide to Life, a collection of new Rilke translations published last year.
Bono, lead singer of rock band U2, has launched a clothing line in which every pair of jeans comes with
a poem by Rilke embroidered in the pockets.
Actor Dennis Hopper is photographed
here with a volume of Rilke in hand.
Musical group New York Voices released a CD entitled "
Ancient Tower" featuring actress Meryl Streep reading Rilke's poetry to music.
Classical violinist Anne Sofie-Mutter has
named Rilke as a favorite poet.
Country Musician Ray Wylie Hubbard names Rilke as an inspiration in
this NPR interview.
CSI actor Ed Gordon was
inspired by Rilke in the creation of his recent book "Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny."
Peter Carey's recent novel
My Life as a Fake features a Rilke enthusiast as a principal character.
Audrey Niffeneger's
The Time Traveler's Wife includes Rilke allusions that are integral to the story.
In his "New Year Letter," W.H. Auden famously (and, contrary to popular belief,
not disparagingly) called Rilke "The Santa Claus of lonleliness." He made another reference to Rilke in "Twenty-third Sonnet" (
In Time of War):
"Let us remember all who seemed deserted. / Tonight in China let me think of one, // Who through ten years of silence worked and waited, / Until in Muzot all his powers spoke, / And everything was given once for all: // And with the gratitude of the Completed / He went out in the winter night to stroke / That little tower like a great animal."
(The following Auden quote, by the by, would serve as a very apt epigraph to
Lost Son: "Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.")
Rilke is the subject of an essay by J.M. Coetzee in Coetzee's book
Stranger Shores.
A character reads
Letters to a Young Poet in the
first chapter of Chris Abani's novel,
Graceland.
The first full English translation of Rilke's famous
correspondence with Lou Andreas-Salomé was published by W.W. Norton last year. It is noted
here in The New Yorker.
Rilke is mentioned in Tennessee William's "The Two-Character Play."
German philosopher
Martin Heidegger cites Rilke as an example of the highest form of thinker in his essay "What Are Poets For?" The essay's theme is largely explored through the examination of an "improvised verse" (short poem) Rilke wrote in 1924. Heidegger, sometimes considered the most influential German thinker of the 20th century, ranks Rilke in the German poetic tradition as second only to
Holderlin.
Erie Chapman cites Rilke frequently in his essays on caregiving.
In the world of film:
Rilke's poem "The Panther" is quoted in the
1990 film
Awakenings (starring Robert DeNiro and based on the 1973 book by neurologist and author
Oliver Sacks), expressing the emotional undertone of the story.
In the
1993 movie
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, actress
Whoopi Goldberg refers to Rilke's
Letters to a Young Poet. That work is also a topic of conversation between several characters in the
2002 movie
Igby Goes Down.
Rilke is quoted in
Kissing Jessica Stein by a woman looking for a woman in a personal ad. This quote is what moves the main character, Jessica, to answer the ad, despite her presumed heterosexuality.
Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" is quoted by Miriam, played by
Gena Rowlands, in
Woody Allen's
1998 film
Another Woman. Additionally, "Rain," the Juliette Lewis character in "Husbands and Wives" is named after Rilke.
Rilke's poem "You Who Never Arrived" is quoted by Faith, played by
Marisa Tomei, in
Norman Jewison's
1994 film
Only You.
"For the sake of a single poem," an animated short by Shamik Majumdar, a contemporary Indian Animation Film Designer, is based on an excerpt from Rilke's book,
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge.
In the world of music:
The
indie rock band
Rainer Maria takes its name from Rilke, and at least some of their merchandise bears the poet's image.
The
Cocteau Twins song "Rilkean Heart", on the 1996 album Milk and Kisses, is an homage to
Jeff Buckley who was a life long lover of Rilke's work.
The Russian composer
Dmitri Shostakovich set several of Rilke's poems to music in his
Symphony No. 14.
The American contemporary composer
Morten Lauridsen set Rilke's poem "Les Chansons des Roses" to music.
Pianist
Brad Mehldau and vocalist
Renee Fleming released an album in which some of the songs are set to Rilke's poems in 2006.
In the world of the church:
Rilke's poem "
You, Neighbour God" (from “The Book of Hours”) is included in the most commonly used edition of
Liturgy of the hours.
Rilke's poetry is often referenced in the writings of contemporary spiritual teachers such as
Jack Kornfield and Stephen Levine.
