Letters to a Young Poet: A New Translation and Commentary (Shambhala Pocket Library)

The translation removed a language barrier to reveal the poetry’s beauty and wisdom.

Bought as a gift for a family member who'd requested a compact version of this content in English. I reviewed samples of text from several options, and thought this one had the best balance for our purposes between literal accuracy vs readability (BTW, I do read German.) Recipient was very happy with text and format of the book.

Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows translation is beautiful and, Rilke…wow. So insightful. It’s the sort of book everyone should have on the shelf and pick up to get just the right wisdom at any moment in life.

Easy to understand translation that is relevant to current times. I enjoyed this book but I wonder how much was lost in translation.

I bought this edition because I had gifted my own edition beautifully translated by Stephen Mitchell to a grieving friend. I was quite surprised to see the translators take the liberty of calling a rare poetic genius like Rilke “tasteless” for talking about human sexuality from a reproductive perspective (as if the poet were claiming that sexuality began and ended with those words); “judgmental” for his caution about what’s problematic in journalism; and “harmful” to the young poet, who has sought his mentorship, for advising him to cultivate and cherish his solitude, inexplicably reducing Rilke’s rich, resonant idea of solitude to mere social isolation. Ironically, even these hasty interventions and shallow interpretations coming from the translators with strong critical backgrounds attest to the clarity of Rilke’s mind, who repeatedly warns the young, aspiring poet also against the violation of the work of art through literary criticism, lol! (I shall add, a poor, easy kind of literary criticism, for at its best, literary criticism itself is a form of artistic expression.) In brief, I just convinced myself that I ought to buy another copy of Mitchell’s translation. If you wish to become acquainted with this tiny, vast, all-giving book, you might want to do the same.

When I met John Dominic Crossan in 2007, I asked, "What is your favorite prayer?" He replied it wasn't exactly a prayer, but an excerpt from R.M. Rilke's LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET that concerned having patience with life's uncertainties and the value of "living the questions." In Letter 4, Rilke wrote: "Don't search for answers now, because you would not be able to live them....Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."The power of solitude and immersing oneself in the natural world are emphasized.This beautiful little volume is easily read in one sitting. I know I will return to its pages again and again.