


I think it's rare to find a writer like this - a great mind lending itself to an eager and sympathetic audience. It is so raw, even in just reading it without background knowledge, but seems even more so when you read about the conditions in which he wrote the Duino Elegies. However, Rilke's poetry is the complete opposite of that. I think that maybe years of reading poetry I disliked in school made me have this kneejerk reaction). I've always felt like it tends to sound pretentious (I know, this is a complete stereotype which, after reading Rilke, I am going to challenge by reading more poetry. I've never been someone that went out of their way to read poetry. I would be consumed in that overwhelming existence.įor beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure,Īnd we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.

"Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels' hierarchies?Īnd even if one of them pressed me suddenly against his heart: It was the opening lines of the Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke: So, a couple of days ago, the competition screen loaded and the passage that I would be typing sounded absolutely beautiful. Sometimes, if something that I had just typed out sounds interesting, I will do more research on it. Anyways, what you type in these competitions are passages ranging from single sentences to entire paragraphs that are taken from thousands of books, movies, and songs that have been submitted to the website. A little bit of background info: I actually learned about Rilke through typing races online.
