Duino Elegies
A sequence of elegies completed in 1922 and published in 1923.
Rainer Maria Rilke
German-language poet and prose writer
Explore this tradition and related voices →Rilke encourages a young correspondent to be patient with unresolved questions and to let understanding develop through living. Our reflection is a separate contemporary response.
The person behind the ideas
Rilke was a German-language poet and writer whose work explored the relationship between beauty, suffering, life, and death. His poetry makes demanding inner experiences tangible through images. Letters to a Young Poet offers a more intimate encounter with his thinking through advice to a young correspondent.
Biography sources
Biography reference →At a glance
- Born
- 1875
- Died
- 1926
- Birthplace
- Prague, Austria-Hungary (Czechia)
- Notable works
- Duino Elegies · Sonnets to Orpheus
- Tradition
- German-language poet and prose writer
Ideas and outlook
Rilke’s writing explores solitude, love, artistic attention, and the relation between life and death. His images give form to inward experiences without reducing them to a system of advice.
About the works
Sonnets to Orpheus
A sonnet sequence completed at Muzot in 1922 and published in 1923.
Life milestones
- 1902
Travels to Paris to work on a monograph about the sculptor Auguste Rodin.
- 1912
Begins the Duino Elegies while staying at Duino Castle.
- 1922
Completes the Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus at Muzot.
From this voice
A thought in the atlas
“…be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves…”
Letters to a Young Poet · Letter Four
Embracing UncertaintyOther quotes across journeys
The Horizon
…be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves…
Letters to a Young Poet · Letter 4 · M. D. Herter Norton
Visit this journey →Source details
Letters to a Young Poet · Letter 4 · M. D. Herter Norton
Rilke encourages a young correspondent to be patient with unresolved questions and to let understanding develop through living. Our reflection is a separate contemporary response.
Read the source ↗Embracing Uncertainty · Standalone card
Rilke encourages a young correspondent to be patient with unresolved questions and to let understanding develop through living. Our reflection is a separate contemporary response.
Patience with uncertainty does not mean ignoring evidence or postponing decisions that require action.
Read the original source →Embracing Uncertainty · Beginning Again
Rilke encourages a young correspondent to be patient with unresolved questions and to let understanding develop through living. Our reflection is a separate contemporary response.
Patience with uncertainty does not mean ignoring evidence or postponing decisions that require action.
Read the original source →