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Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God Paperback – Deckle Edge, November 1, 2005

by Anita Barrows (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 696 ratings
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A FINALIST FOR THE PEN/WEST TRANSLATION AWARD

The 100th Anniversary Edition of a global classic, containing beautiful translations along with the original German text.

While visiting Russia in his twenties, Rainer Maria Rilke, one of the twentieth century's greatest poets, was moved by a spirituality he encountered there. Inspired, Rilke returned to Germany and put down on paper what he felt were spontaneously received prayers. Rilke's Book of Hours is the invigorating vision of spiritual practice for the secular world, and a work that seems remarkably prescient today, one hundred years after it was written.

Rilke's Book of Hours shares with the reader a new kind of intimacy with God, or the divine—a reciprocal relationship between the divine and the ordinary in which God needs us as much as we need God. Rilke influenced generations of writers with his Letters to a Young Poet, and now Rilke's Book of Hours tells us that our role in the world is to love it and thereby love God into being. These fresh translations rendered by Joanna Macy, a mystic and spiritual teacher, and Anita Barrows, a skilled poet, capture Rilke's spirit as no one has done before.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Riverhead Books
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    5.16 x 0.75 x 7.99 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1594481563
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1594481567
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"These poems of spiritual yearning and discovery composed by the young Rilke one hundred years ago feel very fresh and moving in the beautifully transparent, supple versions of Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy. With their psalm-like directness and emotional urgencyk, they nourish and quicken the life of the spirit." --Chana Bloch, translator of The Song of Songs

From the Back Cover

At the beginning of this century, a young German poet returned from a journey to Russia, where he had immersed himself in the spirituality he discovered there. He "received" a series of poems about which he did not speak for a long time - he considered them sacred, and different from anything else he ever had done and ever would do again. This poet saw the coming darkness of the century, and saw the struggle we would have in our relationship to the divine. The poet was Rainer Maria Rilke, and these love poems to God make up his Book of Hours.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books; Reprint edition (November 1, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594481563
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594481567
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.16 x 0.75 x 7.99 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 696 ratings

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  1. Rainer Maria Rilke

    Rainer Maria Rilke

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  2. Joanna Macy

    Joanna Macy

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
696 global ratings
Personal time…..
5 Stars
Personal time…..
“Hours” is a part of my daily reading time. The translation is beautiful and the original German is on the facing page. A very personal addition to his “letters”. This gives an onsite to both God and Rilke.
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Top reviews from the United States

Rev. Alan
5.0 out of 5 stars Personal time…..
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024
Verified Purchase
“Hours” is a part of my daily reading time. The translation is beautiful and the original German is on the facing page. A very personal addition to his “letters”. This gives an onsite to both God and Rilke.
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Rev. Alan
5.0 out of 5 stars Personal time…..
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024
“Hours” is a part of my daily reading time. The translation is beautiful and the original German is on the facing page. A very personal addition to his “letters”. This gives an onsite to both God and Rilke.
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Tascha Dresser
5.0 out of 5 stars Rilkes Book of hours by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy shines
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2000
Verified Purchase
I am a poet myself and have found This collection of poems by Rilke beautiful, inspiring and thought provoking. A few years ago when i was first introduced to this book I was so taken by it that I bought paper back copies of it as a gift to a special education class i was trying to help in some way, plus I have found that Much of my own work today has been strongly influneced bY This edition of Rilke's book oF hours. It is the only edition I know about. As a poet I can say that it is not always neccessary to conform to ryhme and meter in a poem for it to be good. Rhyme and meter are generally forgotten by the reader while the images and emotions that are provoked can stay with a person for years.In these poems considered as private prayers by the author as well as in other translations of different work by Rilke the language just flows and is beautiful. It touches and speaks to us about the internal questions all human beings have about creation and existence. one need not be religious to love these poems and even a atheist would love them.When You consider poetry a verbal expression of emotions ,thoughts and experineces and not just a intellectual exersize and if you love language in general you can appreciate these poems. Only a person who is void of a soul and human feelings and lacks sensativity wouldnt like these poems. I found thembreath taking and deep as if the poet were comtemplating the meaning of life while he wrote them.
29 people found this helpful
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David Ryals
5.0 out of 5 stars 👑♾️
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2024
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If you love naturalists like N Scott Momaday or Jim Harrison, Rilke is a necessary read! Absolutely flawless!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyment like no other
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2021
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The Book of Hours is Rilke’s best work by far. It captures the essential spirt of what matters most in a fulfilling and meaningful life. It’s frighteningly relevant for today’s confused society. Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy have masterfully translated the original German text. Their prefaces, introduction and notes are very helpful especially for those less familiar with Rilke. Cheers.
4 people found this helpful
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GMWills
4.0 out of 5 stars Eternal Love Poems
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2009
Verified Purchase
Translation is always a difficult craft. In many places throughout this book it is clear the translators struggled - hurdles they in part admit in the introduction. For those of us who do not have a head for languages, it would be almost impossible to refer to the original German text. Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy have produced an excellent rendering of one of the world's greatest classical spiritual poets. I found the titles in German irritating without their own line of translation, but, I am reliably informed by an English/German scholar that the English translations of the verses are more than good. Rilke has a breathtaking approach to God - a deeply spiritual intimacy - through poems that are essentially prayers, but prayers that certainly don't conform to any 'normal' liturgy. Reading more than one a day would be too much for me. Reader be warned - the maturity of these prayer/poems can be deeply moving to the soul.
(Br Graham-Michael)
5 people found this helpful
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Donna Morrison
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful introduction
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2023
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Personal use and sharing poetry with friends
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teabird
5.0 out of 5 stars Gift-worthy
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2019
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Just the best Rilke book I've ever found. The hardcover is out of print--and luckily I have one myself-- but I bought this paperback copy as a gift for a friend. The paper quality is really lovely, with a deckled edge, so feels gift-worthy. The cover is thick with an interesting feel and has a luminous and soft quality. It also has flaps. I think this translation by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy is fantastic, providing the German on the facing page of each translated poem in English. These women were truly inspired when they translated these poems, and this English speaker is very grateful for their efforts.
11 people found this helpful
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Alison
5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece.
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2022
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This collection is masterfully interpreted, and includes the original German. It's Rilke- the man was a master. Even the cover and the raw edge paper is beautiful. Can't recommend this highly enough.
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Shardajo
5.0 out of 5 stars Superlative writing - theology repetitive
Reviewed in Canada on November 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
The writing is exceptional. Having the German, which I don't speak, alongside the English translation is helpful because I can recognize particular word choices and his phrasing. The themes are rather self-indulgent and self-preoccupied and, we're it not for his excellent turn of phrase, would be repetitive. I would challenge his choice of title.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful poems
Reviewed in India on August 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is the best translation of Rilke's Book of Hours and the poems themselves are beautiful.
2 people found this helpful
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Stephen
5.0 out of 5 stars A poet’s translation of a poet
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2018
Verified Purchase
My brief aquaintance with other translations of this work leads me to conclude that they are very flat compared with this one which brings to life Rilke’s images in beautiful spititually insightful poetry. This edition has German on left page and English on right (not that the German is much use to me!)
7 people found this helpful
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Gisela
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible book with the beautiful poems fully written both in German and English
Reviewed in Canada on January 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
An incredible book with beautiful poems that are a balm to the soul. I am especially pleased that the poems are written in the original German and then translated into English on the opposite page. The excerpt made it look as if only part of the original German was in the book.
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Mohini
3.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely beautiful
Reviewed in India on February 3, 2024
Verified Purchase
The media could not be loaded.
 Each and every poem of this book is just beautiful. But we’re not talking about the contents of the book here. The cover is a weak and the sides of the pages are not cut evenly. I’m not sure if that’s done for the aesthetic or if it’s some malfunction while producing the book. It seems like a fake but the being inside is pretty good and it’s not missing any parts so it suffices
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Mohini
3.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely beautiful
Reviewed in India on February 3, 2024
Each and every poem of this book is just beautiful. But we’re not talking about the contents of the book here. The cover is a weak and the sides of the pages are not cut evenly. I’m not sure if that’s done for the aesthetic or if it’s some malfunction while producing the book. It seems like a fake but the being inside is pretty good and it’s not missing any parts so it suffices
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