the rilke alphabet .................18525$ $$FM 02-14-1407:12:11 PS PAGEi .................18525$ $$FM 02-14-1407:12:11 PS PAGEii The Rilke Alphabet ULRICH BAER Translated by Andrew Hamilton fordham university press 2014 NewYork .................18525$ $$FM 02-14-1407:12:11 PS PAGEiii Copyright(cid:2)2014FordhamUniversityPress TheRilkeAlphabetwaspreviouslypublishedinGermanasDasRilkeAlphabet(cid:2)Suhrkamp VerlagFrankfurtamMain2006.AllrightsreservedbyandcontrolledthroughSuhrkamp VerlagBerlin. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval system,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans—electronic,mechanical,photocopy, recording,oranyother—exceptforbriefquotationsinprintedreviews,withouttheprior permissionofthepublisher. FordhamUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofURLs forexternalorthird-partyInternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. FordhamUniversityPressalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicformats.Some contentthatappearsinprintmaynotbeavailableinelectronicbooks. LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013957597 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1 Firstedition .................18525$ $$FM 02-14-1407:12:12 PS PAGEiv contents ListofAbbreviations vii Preface: ‘‘TheWholeDictationofExistence’’ ix Acknowledgments xv a 1 forAshanti b 10 forBuddha c 27 forCircle d 36 forDestinyDisrupted e 45 forEntrails f 53 forFrogs g 61 forGod h 71 forHair i 76 forInca j 87 forJewBoy k 104 forKafkaand KingLear .................18525$ CNTS 02-14-1407:12:15 PS PAGEv contents l 111 forLarean m 116 forMussolini n 125 forNature o 132 forO p 133 forProletarian q 139 forQuatsch r 146 forRose s 149 forStampa t 162 forTower u 171 forUn- v 178 forVagabond,orBeingOutside w 192 forWorm x 200 forXaver y 203 forY z 204 forZero 215 Notes 233 WorksCited 241 Index vi .................18525$ CNTS 02-14-1407:12:15 PS PAGEvi abbreviations AllworksarebyRainerMariaRilkeunlessotherwisenoted. AAP AheadofAllParting:TheSelectedPoetryandProseofRainerMaria Rilke 1980 ALT Briefe( ) ANI RilkeandAnitaForrer, Briefwechsel BOI TheBookofImages BSF BriefeandieSchweizerFreunde BZP BriefezurPolitik GB GesammelteBriefe HAT RilkeandMagdavonHattingberg,Briefwechselmit Magdavon Hattingberg 1991 NAL Briefe( ) 2 JBL SelectedWorks,Volume :Poetry KA Werke LOL LettersonLife LOU RilkeandLouAndreas-Salome´,Briefwechsel LYP LetterstoaYoungPoet MLB TheNotebooksofMalteLauridsBrigge NP NewPoems POR ThePoetry ofRilke SID BriefeanSidonieNa´dherny´ vonBorutin SIZ BriefeanGra¨finSizzo SW Sa¨mtlicheWerke .................18525$ ABBR 02-14-1407:12:18 PS PAGEvii abbreviations TAX RilkeandMarievon ThurnundTaxis,Briefwechsel UP UncollectedPoems WUN BriefeanNannyWunderly-Volkart viii .................18525$ ABBR 02-14-1407:12:18 PS PAGEviii preface the whole : ‘‘ dictation of existence ’’ iktat des aseins ‘‘D D ’’ ThelongerIlive,themoreurgentitseemstometoendureand transcribethewholedictationofexistence[dasganzeDiktatdes Daseins]uptoitsend,foritmightjustbethecasethatonly theverylastsentencecontainsthatsmallandpossibly inconspicuouswordwhichtransformsintomagnificentsense everythingwehadstruggledtolearnandeverythingwehadfailed tounderstand.1 21 1913 RilkewrotethesewordstoIlseErdmannon December , ,closeto theendofayearduringwhichhe hadmetSigmundFreudinperson, spentmoretimewithLou Andreas-Salome´, anddrafteda poemthathe wouldnotcompleteforanotherdecadeasthefirstoftheDuinoelegies. Bywriting down‘‘thewholedictation ofexistence,’’Rilkehopesto registerthoseexperiencesthatwe normallygothroughwithoutnoticing. Donotoverlook anything,payattentiontoeverything,spellitalloutup tothemost minusculeand negligiblewordandletter: ThatisRilke’s aestheticmottoandhis guideforlife. Inorder nottomissanythingor getdistractedinthetaskof livingmindfully andhonestly,thepoetmust notdecideinadvancebetweenimportantandunimportantthings.Hehas towriteintheconvictionthateachexperienceandeverywordpossesses avalueallitsown. .................18525$ PREF 02-14-1407:12:21 PS PAGEix preface: ‘‘the whole dictation of existence’’ Rilke’sambitiontocopydown theentire ‘‘dictationofexistence’’rests inan animisticthought,asifthegreateruniverse findsinushumans its diligent secretaries,whoselowlyservicecanfindthekeytotheuniverse’s hiddenmeaningaslong aswedon’tmissaword.Poetry becomesthe record oftheuniverse,andoneofthecountlesswordsinthisgreat and faithfultranscriptionmightrevealtheuniverse’shiddenmeaningtous. Thelanguageofpoetrydoesnotturnawayfromtheworld towarda greater,transcendentMeaningbutopensuptheworld,and opensusto theimmanence oftheworld,inwhich welive.ThisisRilke’sambition: towriteattentivelyabouttheworld inthehopethatour lives,asweare already livingthem, mightbetransformed‘‘intomagnificentsense.’’ This bookhonorsRilke’scalltocopydownthedictationof existence. The RilkeAlphabetpresentstwenty-six wordsthatcastnewlighton Rilke’soeuvre(includinghispoetry,prose,and letters)fromunexpected angles. Someofthechaptersexamine whatscholarsandcriticshave ‘‘struggledtolearn,’’toadaptRilke’stermforouroftenreflexivetendency toresolveanychallengebyrelyingonsecondhandopinionsandcommon- places,while otherchaptersopenoureyesandearstowhatmanyreaders have‘‘failed tounderstand.’’2Manyreadershavenotyet graspedRilke’s poetrybecausetheyhaveelevatedhis poetryabovelifeand searchfor‘‘a magnificentsense’’andinspirationinbooks ofRilke’sversesinsteadof graspingthatRilke’spoetry,evenwhenaddressingflamingos,angels,and hydrangeas,pressesusmoredeeplyintolife.Rilkecopiesdown the dictationofexistenceas‘‘thesecretaryoftheinvisible’’(inhisownmemo- rable phrase),yet eachoneof thewordsexaminedhere showsthatthis secretaryknowsushumans tobephysical,mortalbeingsatonceblessed and trappedinourhumanbodieswithdesires, longings,andfears. Thisworktakesitsorigininmanyyearsofstudyandinadeeplysensory experienceof readingRilke.It showsbuttwothings.First, itshowsthat Rilke, thepoetwhoamongmodernpoetsmostinsistentlyandconvinc- ingly promisessalvationandevenredemptionwithinourdisenchanted, secularmodernity(andnotinanotherreligionorideology,noteven that of‘‘art’’), hadabody.Second,italsodemonstratesthatwhenitcomesto poetryandlife, asinglewordmay changeeverything.One wordmay upendyoursenseofyourselfandendyourworldinitsentirety.Onesingle word.Thatispoetry’sinsistence,anditisthereasonwhywetendtoturn topoetry,Rilke’sinmanycases,atmomentsoftransition,orwhendue toacalamityorlossitseemsthatonewayofbeingintheworldhasended x .................18525$ PREF 02-14-1407:12:21 PS PAGEx