Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
was born in Prague. His father was an ex-soldier turned railroad worker and he sent him to military school at the earlier possible opportunity. Rilke hated it, fell ill, and finished his secondary schooling at home before going on to study literature and philosophie first in Prag, then in Munich, where he met Lou-Andreas Salomé, who was to have a huge influence in his life, first as his mistress and then just as a friend. He followed her to Berlin, she ended their romantic relationship, he fled to Bremen, where he met Clara Westhoff, a sculptor he married soon afterwards and left not long after that to go to Paris. He was on a short trip to Munich in 1914 - bad luck for him, as returning to Paris was then impossible due to the war. He was conscripted, but used his relations to avoid going anywhere near the front lines. His health deteriorated after the end of the war and he was diagnosed with leukemia shortly before his death.
He best-known works are probably the
Duineser Elegien, but people usually read only his
Letters to a young poet.
Today's poem,
Der Panther, is probably among his most famous pieces.
Here are several translations into English, and
here is one into French with a lengthy commentary.
For the non-Germans, a panther is masculine. For a kinky (if slightly AU) reading one might want to liken it to a phallic symbol.
Tomorrow, WW1.