When I Go

These English versions bring Rilke's French-language poems to readers for the first time in a form meant to be read aloud and savored. Rarely gathered together, the pieces came out of a stretch of elation that followed his completion of two landmark German works, the Duino Elegies and the Sonnets to Orpheus.

At the same time, the poet was quietly declining from an uncommon, undiagnosed leukemia. He died only four years after work on these verses began. Death recurs throughout as a gentle but unfamiliar presence, one to be met with bravery and acceptance.

The collection is arranged in five cycles: Roses, Windows, Affectionate Tribute to France, Valaisian Quatrains, and Orchards.