Rainer Maria Rilke’s Biography between 1910 and 1922 in the context of his 'Duino Elegies' and 'Sonnets to Orpheus'

Abstract

representatives of modern German literature. In particular, Duino Laments and Sonnets to Orpheus are characterized as his masterpieces in the field of poetry. However, the writing of these two works took place under very difficult conditions. Rilke was plunged into a deep crisis in 1910, but was able to find peace when he completed Laments and Sonnets in 1922. The intervening years (1910-1922) are the subject of this study. Our aim is to examine how and under what conditions these two masterpieces were written. In these twelve years, Rilke had experiences that left deep traces in his art and were reflected in the motifs of both works.
 These twelve years are also referred to as Rilke's "late period" in which he reached maturity and begins after the 1910 publication of the novel The Notes of Malte Lauridds Brigge. Set in Paris, this novel is considered the first modern novel written in the German language. Rilke reached the pinnacle of his art with this novel and the New Poems published before it. However, as soon as Malte Lauridds finished Brigge's Notes, Rilke, as noted, fell into a major productivity crisis. The following years were spent trying to overcome this crisis and continue to produce at the same high artistic level.
 Rilke's first remedy to overcome the crisis was to distract himself by translating. At this time, the desire to travel also showed up. While Rilke's "Middle Period" (1902-1910) bore the stamp of Paris, his late period after 1910 was marked by his travels and travels. This study mainly deals with these years and aims to show how Rilke's two works, which are considered his masterpieces, came to be despite such displacement.
 The experiences that left deep traces in Rilke's life and work are discussed throughout the study and reflected from a positivist perspective. According to the order in his biography, the first important trip of Rilke in these years was the 1910 trip to North Africa and Egypt. Rilke was heavily inspired by ancient Egyptian civilization and the vibrant Islam of the Maghreb. As a matter of fact, he managed to write the first lines of Duino Laments in the Duino Castle, where he stayed as a guest in 1912. His second important trip was his trip to Spain in 1912-13. Shortly after returning to Paris from Spain for a while, World War I broke out and Rilke was forced to stay in Germany until 1919. In 1919, however, he left Germany, never to return, and settled in Switzerland (where he completed both of his masterpieces in 1922).