Rainer Maria Rilke, Writer

Posted by Tel Asiado Dec 4, 2008

This day, December 4 (1875), is the birthday of Rainer Maria Rilke, one of the most important figures in modern German literature. He was also an outstanding lyric poet. He belonged to the symbolist movement that used images to represent what one feels or thinks.

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Rilke's family wanted him to be a lawyer, but he was more inspired to be a writer.

Later, Rilke went to Munich and became a part of the art and literary life there. Initially, he met influential women who helped him in his writing endeavors. He wasn't handsome but poetic and romantic, and women fell for that. It was one older woman, the Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, who became his close friend who had great influence on him and encouraged him to write big time. Rilke stayed in her castle in Trieste, on the Adriatic Sea. It was there he wrote his most famous poems The Duino Elegies, consisting of 10 long verses.

Rilke is often quoted for his Letters to a Young Poet.

For his brief biography, check out Rainer Maria Rilke