You Alone Are Real to Me: Remembering Rainer Maria Rilke

When German poet Rainer Maria Rilke died in December 1926, he was regarded as one of the major poets of the 20th century in any language, as well as one of the most enigmatic of his own time -- the one-time associate of Rodin, military school drop-out, painfully detached father and husband, and author of the Duino Elegies, which stands among the most sublime works of all time.

Written the year after his death by the poet's life-long friend, traveling companion, and muse, Lou Andreas-Salom...