Rainer Maria Rilke 
Sonnets to Orpheus 

One of the literary masterpieces of the century, this translation is now presented with facing-page German.

To Rilke himself the
Sonnets to Orpheus were ‘perhaps the most mysterious in the way they came up and entrusted themselves to me, the most enigmatic dictation I have ever held through and achieved; the whole first part was written down in a single breathless act of obedience, between the 2nd and 5th of February, without one word being doubtful or having to be changed.’ With facing-page German.

About the author

M.D.H. Norton (1894–1985) was cofounder of W. W. Norton & Company, now the oldest and largest publisher owned wholly by its employees.