Rainer Maria Rilke

Introduction
Early life and education
Relationship with Lou Andreas-Salomé and travels in Russia
The Book of Hours, Worpswede, and marriage
Paris and friendship with Auguste Rodin
Development of new lyric poetry and New Poems
The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge
Writing block and military service
Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus
Final years and death
Posthumous publications

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Rainer Maria Rilke stands at left, Lou Andreas-Salome stands at center, and Spiridon Drozhzhin sits on wooden steps at right outside a rustic building, with two women visible in the background.

Portrait of Auguste Rodin standing indoors, wearing a buttoned, two-toned coat with a full beard and tousled hair, looking slightly to the side.

At a Glance

Rainer Maria Rilke summary

Quizzes

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

A Study of Poetry

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

Related Questions

How did Auguste Rodin influence Rainer Maria Rilke’s approach to art?
How did Lou Andreas-Salomé influence Rainer Maria Rilke’s life and writing?
How did New Poems differ from earlier German lyric poetry?
How did Paris shape Rainer Maria Rilke’s view of poverty and death?
How did Rainer Maria Rilke complete the Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus in February 1922?
How did Rainer Maria Rilke describe his years in military school?
How did Rainer Maria Rilke portray Russia in his writing?
How did Rainer Maria Rilke use visual art in New Poems?
How does Sonnets to Orpheus connect poetry and art with human life?
How does The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge portray life in Paris?
How does Visions of Christ portray Jesus differently from traditional religious writing?
How long did Rainer Maria Rilke take to complete the Duino Elegies?
How long was Paris a major center of Rainer Maria Rilke’s life?
How many poems are in the Duino Elegies?
How many poems are included in Sonnets to Orpheus?
What artistic and philosophical influences appear in The Book of Hours?
What did Rainer Maria Rilke learn from Auguste Rodin about artistic work?
What did Rainer Maria Rilke study at Charles University in Prague?
What does Rainer Maria Rilke mean by humans being “the bees of the invisible”?
What does Rainer Maria Rilke mean by “making objects out of fear”?
What illness caused Rainer Maria Rilke’s death in 1926?
What is a Ding-Gedicht in Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry?
What major themes appear in The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge?
What themes about life and death appear in the Duino Elegies?
What was Rainer Maria Rilke’s first published book of poetry?
What was the Worpswede artists’ colony?
When did Rainer Maria Rilke first travel to Russia?
When did Rainer Maria Rilke marry Clara Westhoff?
When did Rainer Maria Rilke serve in the Austrian army during World War I?
When was The Book of Hours written and published?
When was The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge published?
When were Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet published?
When were Rainer Maria Rilke’s New Poems published?
When were the Duino Elegies published?
Where and when was Rainer Maria Rilke born?
Where did Rainer Maria Rilke begin writing the Duino Elegies?
Where did Rainer Maria Rilke complete the Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus?
Where did Rainer Maria Rilke die?
Which French poet had a major influence on Rainer Maria Rilke?
Which Rainer Maria Rilke work was inspired by his trips to Russia?
Who is the central character in The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge?
Who received the letters collected in Letters to a Young Poet?
Who was Clara Westhoff?
Why did Rainer Maria Rilke and Clara Westhoff separate soon after their daughter was born?
Why did Rainer Maria Rilke change his first name from René to Rainer?
Why did Rainer Maria Rilke leave Charles University and move to Munich?
Why did Rainer Maria Rilke leave military school before graduating?
Why did Rainer Maria Rilke move to Paris in 1902?
Why did Russia have such a strong effect on Rainer Maria Rilke?
Why is The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge considered an early existentialist work?
Who is Barbara Kingsolver?
What are Barbara Kingsolver’s most famous books?
Which book did Barbara Kingsolver win the Pulitzer Prize for?
Who was Wendell Berry?
What is Wendell Berry’s most famous poem?
Where did Wendell Berry grow up and how did it influence his work?
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What awards did Margaret Atwood win?
What is Margaret Atwood best known for?

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External Websites

ABC listen - Earshot - Rilke in Ronda
CBC - 'Live the questions now': Reading Rilke in a time of uncertainty, grief and solitude
Official Site of Fondation Rilke
Moravian Seminary - The Poetry and Spirituality of Rainer Maria Rilke
Poets.org - Biography of Rainer Maria Rilke
BBC - Arts and Ideas - Rainer Maria Rilke

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Rainer Maria Rilke - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Rainer Maria Rilke

Austrian-German poet

Also known as: René Maria Rilke

Written by

Hans Egon Holthusen

Professor of German, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1968–81. Author of A Portrait of Rilke.

Hans Egon Holthusen

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Oct. 30, 2026 •History

Rainer Maria Rilke (born December 4, 1875, Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic]—died December 29, 1926, Valmont, Switzerland) was an Austro-German poet who became internationally famous with his lyric poems and such works as Duino Elegies (1923) and Sonnets to Orpheus (1923). Since his death in 1926, he has grown in reputation as one of the greatest German-language poets, widely admired for the posthumously published works Letters to a Young Poet (1929) and Visions...

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