William Wordsworth

Literature / Great Poets.

Brief biography and works of William Wordsworth, England's Poet Laureate

Wordsworth is regarded as the first and greatest English Romantic poet and became England's Poet Laureate in 1843. He is most popular with the poem "Ode: Intimations of Immortality." 

Early Life of William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, the Lake District where he lived most of his life. The region's magnificent landscape gave him a love of nature that deeply affected his life. He was orphaned at 13, but two uncles had him educated at a good local school and at Cambridge University where he began writing poetry.  

At age 23, his first poems were published. An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches were inspired by a walking vacation in France and Switzerland.

In 1795 Wordsworth met Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and in 1798 the two jointly produced Lyrical Ballads together. Most of the poems were Wordsworth's. He used ordinary but lyrical words to express strong sentiments about remembered scenes and events. His brilliant imagination could make everyday ordinary countryside scenes alive and seemingly full of meaning.

Robert Burns

 Literature / Writers Datebook: January 25 

 

Scottish Poet, Famous for Auld Lang Syne and A Red, Red Rose  

 Brief biography and works of Scottish poet and tax collector, Robert Burns, national poet of Scotland.

 

Robert Burns is best-loved and celebrated as Scotland's national poet. His work, which was often in Scots dialect, rescued Scottish culture from being swamped by the growing influence of English culture. He is best-known for "Auld Lang Syne" and "A Red, Red Rose". 

Early Life of Robert Burns

Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 at Alloway in Ayrshire, western Scotland. His father was a poor farmer but did his best to give his sons a good education. In due time, Burns and his brother Gilbert set up as farmers but their rented land was poor. The brothers struggled to make a living.

Aside from writing poems, Burns charm set about wooing girls. He fathered several children by different women. He wanted to marry Jean Armour, one of his loves, but her parents disapproved of the relationship.

The Poetry of Burns 

As Burns's father was determined to give him an education, he studied Shakespeare, the Bible, Alexander Pope, and French language. Despite being taught the formal English poetry, Burns found that Scottish dialect was the ideal way to express himself and his rebellious attitude to the severe Scottish Church. 

Scottish folksinger Karen Matheson sings Robert Burns' "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose". Youtube, uploaded by DonniesAmerican. Accessed January 25, 2018.

The Poet's Adult Life   

When he was 27, Burns had many of his poems published as Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. The book was a great success, and he moved to Edinburgh for a year and a half. He also started mixing with high society. The success made Jean's parents relent, and Burns married her in 1788. He returned to farming but later gave it up in favour for a more secure job as an excise officer, a tax collector.

Later Years of Burns

Burns wrote nearly all his long narrative poems between 1784 and 1786. After that he took to writing the songs for which he is chiefly remembered, such as "A Red, Red Rose" and "Auld Lang Syne".

He wrote and edited hundreds of songs for collections before dying of heart disease at an early age. He died on July 21, 1796, at the age of 37. Aside a festival celebration to honour him, Burns's birthday is also celebrated in other countries. 

 

Works by Robert Burns

Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 1786

The Works of Robert Burns, 1834-1886

Robert Burn's Commonplace Book, 1783-1785, 1938

 

Image Credit:

Robert Burns. Wikipedia CC / Public Domain

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002

Ousby, Ian.  The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Robert Burns. en.wikipedia.org

 

(c) September 4, 2011. Updated January 25, 2018. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

John Milton

 Literature / Poet-Writer's Datebook

 

Brief biography and key works of English poet John Milton, English poet and essayist famous for the poem "Paradise Lot". 

 

John Milton was one of the greatest English poets with huge influence on English poetry. He is best known for Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Lycidas.   

John Milton's Life in a Nutshell

John Milton was born on December 9, 1698 in London. His father was a successful lawyer ad composer who was wealthy enough to afford a second house in the country. Milton spent six years in private study after finishing university in Cambridge, 1632. He was a Puritan, who gave up his original ambition to become a priest, instead, decided to devote his life to God as a poet. He traveled in Europe and served as Latin secretary to the Commonwealth government. In 1652 he became blind.

Milton was educated in Cambridge University and began to write poetry while he was at college. At the age of 29, he completed one of his first major works, Lycidas, regarded as perhaps the finest short poem in English. Five years later, in 1642, the English Civil War broke, as Oliver Cromwell fought to overthrow the king.  Milton stopped composing poetry and wrote political essays supprting Cromwell. In the same period Milton was slowly losing his sight.  

 

Paradise Lost and Blind Milton

The monarchy was restored in 1660. Milton retired to devote himself to poetry once again. His ambition had always been to compose an epic poem in comparison to the works of ancient writers such as Homer and Virgil. By then completely blind, he began dictating his great poem, Paradise Lost, to his wife and daughters. The work, published when he was 55, was immediately recognized as an outstanding achiement. IT tells the soty of how Satan was thrown out of Heaven and how he came to Earth to corrupt Adam and Eve. The themes of war and areligious conflict it explores constantly remind the reader of the troubled tiems Milton lived throguht.

He died at the age of 65, November 8, 1674.

 

"And all amid them stood the tree of life, High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit Of vegetable gold; and next to life Our death the tree of knowledge grew fast by, Knowledge of good bought dear by knowing ill."  ~ John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV

 

Works by John Milton

"On the Morning of Christ's Nativity", 1629

"L'Allegro", c. 1631

"Il Penseroso", c. 1631

Comus, 1634

Lycidas, 1637

Areopagitica, 1644

Poems, 1645

Paradise Lost, 1667

Paradise Regained, 1671

Samson Agonistes, 1671

 

Photo Credit:

John Milton. en.wikipedia.org / public domain.

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002

Ousby, Ian.  The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997

 

(c) December 9, 2010. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Molière Life and Works

Writers Datebook: January 15

Playwright and Actor, Greatest Writer of French Comedy     

Brief biography of dramatist and actor Moliere, considered greatest master of French comedy, famous for Tantruffe and Le Misanthrope.

Molière was a French playwright and actor considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among his best-known dramas are Le Misanthrope, (The Misanthrope), L'Ecole des femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe au l'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare au l'École du mensange (The Miser), Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).

Early Life of Molière

Molière was the pen name of Jean-Baptisete Poquelin, one of the greatest French comedy writers. He was born on January 15, 1622, in Paris, the son of a wealthy upholsterer. He had a strict upbringing at a Jesuit school. Despite qualifying as a lawyer, he never practiced law. His first love was the theatre, and at the age of 21 he formed a theatre company with a group of friends. They toured France for a number of years before coming to the attention of King Louis XIV, who gave them a permanent theatre.

Life as a Playwright

Molière had his first major success as a playwright at the age of 40, with The School for Wives. The play poked fun at the limited education that was given to daughters of rich families, and it was the first of what are generally regarded as a series of masterpieces. His comedies ranged from broad slapstick comedy to subtle satire. He almost always acted in the lead role himself, as he firmly believed that there was 'no comedy without truth, and no truth without comedy.'  

He made fun of anyone he thought was dishonest, and because of his satires, he often found himself in trouble especially from moralists – two of his plays, The Impostor and Don Juan, were banned. His plays - Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), for its attack on religious hypocrisy received condemnations from the Church, while Don Juan was banned from performance.

Later Years of Molière

Molière's hard work in the theatre began to take its toll on his health and, by 1667, he was forced to take a break from the stage. He concentrated on writing musical comedies later in his life. In these plays the drama was interrupted by songs and dance or a combination of both.

Final Years

While performing in the production of  Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, was taken ill. He died in the same day on February 17, 1673. After his death the theatre group Comédie Française was formed to promote his works. They still enjoyed by modern theatre goers throughout the world.     

Books by Molière

The School for Wives, (L'Ecole des femmes), 1662

The Impostor, (Tartuffe au l'Imposteur), 1664

Don Juan, 1665

The Misanthrope, (le Misanthrope),1666

The Doctor in Spite of himself, 1666

Tartuffe, (a revised version),1667

The Miser, (L'Avare au l'École du mensange), 1668

George Dandin, 1668

The would-Be Gentleman, 1670

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Citizen Turned Gentleman), 1672

The Imaginary Invalid, (Le Malade imaginaire), 1673

 

Image Credit:

Moliere. Wikipedia / Public Domain.

 

Resources:

1. Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers, 2002

2. Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse, 1994   

 

Note: I first published this piece in August, 2008, written for Suite.com (now close).     

(c) January 2010. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.    

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Literature / Poet Datebook: August 6

English Lyric Poet and Poet Laureate  
 

Life and works of Alfred Lord Tennyson, considered most important poet of the Victorian era. His subjects include Arthurian legends and classic mythology.

   

Alfred Lord Tennyson was an English poet laureate, one of the finest lyric poets in the English language. He wrote the epic Idylls of the King. Many of his poems are famous, including "Charge of the Light Brigade," "Tears, Idle Tears," "In Memoriam," and the farewell "Crossing the Bar." His poetry is lyrical, dramatic, elegiac and epic.  

Early Life of Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1^st Baron Tennyson, was born on August 6, 1809, in idyllic Somersby, Lincolnshire, one of the twelve children of a clergyman George Clayton Tennyson, and his wife, Elizabeth Fytche Tennyson. He was educated by his father, who encouraged his interest in poetry. By age 12, he was writing epic poems and memorising Horace's odes. twelve Before age 15, he was writing verse plays and poetry in the style of Lord Byron.

Tennyson's Earlier Poems

When he was 18, Tennyson entered Cambridge University. That year some of his childhood poetry was published, along with poems by his brothers Frederick and Charles Tennyson Turner, in Poems by Two Brothers. At Cambridge Tennyson continued to write poetry and became close friend with English poet Arthur Henry Hallam.   

The Prolific Poet

Tennyson's second volume of poetry, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, contained the popular "Mariana". In his next collection are poems now regarded as being among his best, including "The Lady of Shalott" and "The Lotus Eaters." The following year Hallam died of brain hemmorhage, aged 22. Tennyson was deeply depressed, and he published little for ten years but continued to write. 

 

"The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson. Inspired by the 13th-century short prose text Donna di Scalotta, it tells the tragic story of Elaine of Astolat, a young noblewoman stranded in a tower up the river from Camelot. One of the poet's best-known works, its vivid medieval romanticism and enigmatic symbolism inspired many painters, especially the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers, and other artists and authors.  Below video, "The Lady of Shallot" is provided to YouTube by CrowsEyeProductions. Accessed August 6, 2025. 

In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred, Lord TENNYSON read by Elizabeth Klett | Full Audio Book. Youtube, uploaded by LibriVox. Accessed August 6, 2022.  In Lord Tennyson's work, specifically his long poem "In Memoriam A.H.H.", A.H.H. refers to Arthur Henry Hallam, a close friend of Tennyson who died unexpectedly in 1833. It is a deeply personal and philosophical elegy written by Tennyson to commemorate his friend. Hallam was a fellow poet and student at Trinity College, Cambridge, and he was engaged to Tennyson's sister, Emily, at the time of his death. Tennyson's poem explores themes of grief, faith, and the search for meaning in the face of loss, reflecting the broader anxieties of the Victorian era

 

By 24, he reached full creative juices in his Poems. Despite this, he was dogged by financial woes. It was only after Queen Victoria appointed him poet laureate in 1850 did his fortune change. He held the post for 40 years. In 1880, he was also given a lordship.  

William Butler Yeats

Literature / Poet Datebook: June 13 
 
Life and works of Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats, one of the most influential 20^th century writers and widely considered one of the greatest poets of the English language.

 

 

William Butler Yeats' work was greatly influenced by the heritage and politics of Ireland.Yeats won the Nobel Prize of literature in 1923. He is best known for his plays The Land of Heart's Desire and Cathleen Ni Houlihan.

Early Life of W.B. Yeats
 
William Butler Yeats was born on June 13, 1865 in Sandymount, Dublin. His family was Anglo-Irish, that is, Protestant upper class that felt strong ties to England. His father, John B. Yeats, a painter, moved the family to London when he was three. So, for much of his early life he lived sometimes in London and sometimes in Ireland, but he was always attached to his homeland, especially captivated by the landscape of County Sligo in northwestern Ireland.
 
Yeats was half-blind in one eye; he didn't do well in school. At the age of 15, his family moved back to Ireland, to Howth on Dublin Bay. Five years later, the Dublin University Review published his first two poems.

Enjoy this wonderful performance, beautiful and heartwarming: William Butler Yeats' Down by the Salley Gardens - with Maura O'Connell (Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland) with Karen Matheson. YouTube, uploaded by snootybaronet. Accessed June 13, 2026.)




The Young Poet
 
In London he became increasingly interested in Eastern philosophy and religions, the supernatural and Irish folklore. It was also this time in 1889 that Yeats fell in love with Maud Gonne, a beautiful Irish actress who was involved in the political struggle to end English rule in Ireland. His inability of attaining Maud would haunt him through his life. He proposed in 1891 and again in 1916 but was refused both times.
 
His mystical beliefs and love for Gonne inspired The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, published when he was 24. The poetry is filled with sad longings yet beautiful. Yeats believed that the Anglo-Irish and Irish could be united under a rich although mystical Celtic heritage. 

Below, I'd like to share one of my favourite poems by Yeats:

 

Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

~ W.B. Yeats ~

(Link credit: "Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven", poets.org)

Kind thanks to Ilse Isler, my friend at Facebook, for this straightforward heartwarming paraphrase: 

 

"If I could offer you the secret of the sky
Embroidered with golden light and silver reflections,
The mysterious secret, the eternal secret
of night and day, of life and time
With all my Love I will put it on your feet!"

 
Later Years
 
In 1896 Yeats returned to live permanently in Ireland. He met a wealthy aristocrat, Lady Gregory, whose interest in Irish traditions matched his own. Together in 1904 they formed the Abbey Theatre group.
 
In a Vision, Yeats set out his philosophy, his belief in myths and the meanings of the symbols he used. As he aged, his writing became stronger and more solid. His best work is in The Tower, The Winding Stair and Last Poems and Plays. The Tower includes some of his famous works, including "Sailing to Byzantium," "Among School Children," and "Leda and the Swan."
 
Legacy of W.B. Yeats
 
Yeats founded the National Literary Society and what would become the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Yeats received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1923. He also served as an Irish Free State senator for six years.  He died on January 28, 1939, aged 73.
 
Works by William Butler Yeats 
 
The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, 1889
The Celtic Twilight, 1893
The Land of Heart's Desire, 1894
The Secret Rose, 1897
Cathleen Ni Houlihan, 1902
The Second Coming, 1921
A Vision, 1925
The Tower, 1928
The Winding Stair, 1928
Last Poems and Plays, 1936-39

A famous poem by Yeats: "Down by the Salley Gardens"

"Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her did not agree.
In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she lay her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears."



Resources: 


Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse, 1994
The Cambridge Literature in English, New Edition, edited by Ian Ousby,Cambridge, 1993

Photo Credit:

W.B. Yeats. en.wikipedia.org / Public Domain  

Note:  This article was originally written and published by me for Suite101.com, June 16, 2008. It's an abridged version. / Tel

 
(c) June 2009. Updated June 13, 2026.  Tel. Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved. 

Robert Browning

Literature / Writers Datebook: May 7

 

Brief biography of Victorian poet Robert Browning, English poet and playwright, known for dramatic monologues. 

 

Robert Browning was a major poet of the Victorian period known for mastery of dramatic monologues. He is best known for "The Ring and the Book." The also wrote plays aside from poems.  He was married to Elizabeth Barrett, a famous poet in her own right. Their elopement and secret wedding in Italy, 1846, is by itself a famous love story.

Early Life

Robert Browning was born in Camberwell, London on May 7, 1812. His father, Robert, the Elder, was a clerk at the Bank of England. His mother's parents were German. At the family home he read many books in his father's huge library. Reading poems by writers such as Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats inspired him to become a poet himself. Fortunately his family was well of, with no need to earn money to fend for himself as a writer.  

The Poet and His Poetry

Browning's dramatic monologue, people from the past reveal their thoughts and lives as if thinking aloud. His poem usually tells of a key moment in the life of a person, in which the words not only convey setting and action but also reveal the speaker’s character.  

Browning's first poem, 'Pauline: a Fragment of a Confession' appeared when he was 21. Later, he wrote plays and long story-poems such as 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin.' But his best works are the long speech-like poems in Dramatic Lyrics, Men and Women, Dramatis Personae, and The Ring and the Book – the work that at last made him famous.

The Man and His Poems

Browning disliked anyone who let life slip away instead of striving to achieve something. He often wrote about obscure people and places, and sometimes, either crammed into few words that sometimes readers find it difficult to understand what he is trying to impart. Some critics say that it was because of this that he was over the age of 50 when he became more known than his famous poet-wife Elizabeth Barrett-Browning.

Browning Societies

Browning Societies were founded in his time, and sometimes he made appearances at the meetings. Today, Browning Societies still exist in some major cities to widen appreciation and understanding of the poetry of the Brownings.   

Last Years

After his wife died, he returned to live in England and published books at a fast pace. In 1878, he returned to Italy for the first time, seventeen years since Elizabeth's death, and returned there on several occasions. He also returned to shorter poems. He died in his only son's home in Venice, December 12, 1889, aged 77, and was buried in  Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. 

 

Works by Robert Browning

Pauline: A Fragment of a Confession, 1833
Paracelsus, 1835

Strafford, play, 1837

Sordello, 1840

Bells and Pomegranates, poetry, drama in verse, 1841-1846
Pippa Passes, play, 1841

Dramatic Lyrics, including 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin', 1842

Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, 1845

Luria, play, 1846

Christmas Eve and Easter Day, 1850
Men and women, 1855

Dramatis Personae, 1864

The Ring and the Book, 1868-1869

Dramatic Idyls, 1879-1880

Asolando, 1889

 

Resources:

Robert Browning. en.wikipedia.org, 

Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers (2002)

Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse (1994)  

 

(c)  May 7, 2009.  Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Henrik Ibsen

Literature / Writers Datebook: March 20

Norwegian Playwright and Poet, considered "Father of Modern Drama" 

 

Brief biography and works of Norwegian dramatist and poet Henrik Ibsen, famous for 'A Doll's House', 'Peer Gynt', and 'Hedda Gabler.'

Ibsen is often called the father of modern drama because his plays moved away from the Romantic style of theatre popular in the 19^th century toward realism. He was famous for 'A Doll's House,' 'Hedda Gabler' and 'Peer Gynt,' with the last two plays having numerous new productions of plays worldwide, perhaps outdone only by top Shakespearean plays. 

During his life Ibsen's work was much admired. In 1891, fellow playwright George Bernard Shaw, in a lecture entitled "The Quintessence of Ibsenism", called him the greatest living dramatist. James Joyce corresponded with him. British novelist Dame Rebecca West coined her nom de plume after one of Ibsen's characters in his play Rosmersholm. Composer Edvard Grieg, his own countryman, is famous for "Peer Gynt Suite" based on Ibsen's play.  

Early Childhood

Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien, Norway, on March 20, 1828 and died at the age of 78, on May 23, 1906. His father was bankrupt and almost immediately became a social outcast. This event gave Ibsen a lasting impact on his life that resulted in a strong distrust of society which much of his work reflects.

Ibsen's Youth

At age 16, Ibsen became an apprentice pharmacist. Money was scarce, but he was determined to improve his situation and studied in the evenings. When revolution swept Europe, in 1848, Ibsen, aged twenty-two, captivated by the new democratic ideas, wrote his first play, Catiline, which deals with personal freedom, but this was never performed.

Ibsen went to college in Oslo and hoped to become a physician. He supported himself by writing. A year later, however, he was offered the job of writer-manager of the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen, a position he held for eleven years.

Ibsen's Turning Point

At 30, he married Suzannah Thoresen. Their son, Sigurd, was born a year later.

The play Brand, published when he was 38 years old, was the turning point in his writing career. With its emphasis on the individual pitted against society, the play became popular with young liberals at that time. A series of plays dealing with real-life issues soon followed. A Doll's House, which deals about a woman who refuses to obey her husband, caused a sensation and reached Europe and America.  

 

Works by Henrik Ibsen

Brand, 1866

Peer Gynt, 1867

A Doll's House, 1879

Ghosts, 1881

An Enemy of the People, 1882

The Wild Duck, 1884

Rosmersholm, 1886

The Lady from the Sea, 1888

Hedda Gabler, 1890

The Master Builder, 1892

Little Eyolf, 1894

When We Dead Awaken, 1899

 

Resources:

Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers (2002)

Dictionary of the Arts, Gramercy Books, (1994)

Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse (1994)   

(Note: I originally published this piece for Suite101.com March 2008. / Tel)  

(c) March 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Rainer Maria Rilke

Literature / Poets Datebook: December 4

 

Brief biography and work of Rainer Maria Rilke, Czech-Austrian poet, novelist and writer, famous for Sonnets to Orpheus and Duino Elegies.  

Rainer Maria Rilke was an outstanding lyric poet, one of the most important figures in modern German literature. He belonged to the Symbolist movement, who used images to represent what a person felt or thought.

Early Life of Rainer Maria Rilke

Rilke was born on December 4, 1875, in Prague, at that time a part of the Austrian Empire, and now the capital of Czech Republic. He was sent to a military academy, but this was apparently not his interest. He left to study art history in Germany. He was rather shy, and did not make friends easily, not a sociable young man, and in times of social difficulties his response was to stay away.

The Wanderer: European Travels

Rilke became a constant wanderer through Europe. He made two journeys to Russia, where he met Leo Tolstoy and was deeply impressed by what he learned of Russian religion. However, he settled in Paris where he became secretary to the sculptor Auguste Rodin, and in 1901 he married one of the pupils of Rodin.

Writing Style

Rilke's work was highly influenced by his education and classic authors. Ancient gods Apollo, Hermes and Orpheus are found in his poems according to his lyrical interpretations. He also represented his work with metaphors. 

Below,  Rilke's 'On the Beauty and Difficulty of Solitude'. YouTube, uploaded by That you are here now. Accessed December 4, 2022.  Solitude is a painful and beautiful thing. Rainer Maria Rilke thought so. In his 'Letters To A Young Poet', Rilke speaks of the beauty and difficulty of solitude - and its necessity in our lives.

Prose and Poetry

Rilke consecrated his life to poetry. His first book of poems, Life and Songs, was published when he was 19. His earliest poems were about nature and traditional religion. Later, these simple themes were left behind as his poems became increasingly mystical, and poems became things to him, particularly the sacred ones. Between the ages of 30 and 40 he produced some of his finest poetry and the important prose, The Tale of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke. He also wrote the book Journal of My other Self, which is the story of an imaginary poet. Rilke's two masterpieces are verse sequences, Sonnets to Orpheus and Duino Elegies, written shortly before his premature death from blood poisoning.  He died on December 29, 1926 at the age of 51, in Montreux, Switzerland.   

Rainer Maria Rilke's influence has been far and wide – often quoted and celebrated by literary greats, quoted in music, television, and films.

He chose his own epitaph:

"Rose, oh the pure contradiction, delight, of being no-one's sleep under so many lids."

 

Works by Rainer Maria Rilke

Life and Songs, 1894

Stories of God, 1900

The Book of Hours, 1905

The Tale of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke, 1905

New Poems, 1907

The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge, 1910

Journal of My Other Self, 1910

Sonnets to Orpheus, 1923

Duino Elegies, 1923

Where Silence Reigns, 1978 (Published after his death)

 

Resources:

1. Illustrated Biographical Dictionary edited by John Clark. London: Chancellor Press, 1994

2. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una Mcgovern, Chambers Harrap, Edinburgh, 2002

3. Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring. Larousse, 1994

4. The A-Z of Great Writers, by Tom Payne. Carlton Book, 1997

(c) December 2008. Updated December 4, 2022. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.