Duino Elegies

The captivating original English translation of Rilke’s landmark poetry cycle, by Vita and Edward Sackville-West.

In 1931, Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press published a beautiful edition of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies, in English translation by the writers Vita and Edward Sackville-West. This marked the English debut of Rilke’s masterpiece, which would go on to influence countless poets, musicians and artists across the English-speaking world.

Now published for the first time in 90 years, the Sackville-Wests’ translation is both a fascinating historical document and a magnificent blank-verse rendering of Rilke’s poetry cycle. Featuring a new introduction from critic Lesley Chamberlain, this reissue casts one of European literature’s great masterpieces in fresh light.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Vita Sackville-West and Edward Sackville-West

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is considered one of the greatest German-language writers to have ever lived. He is best known for his Duino Elegies, Sonnets to Orpheus, and The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge.