Enjoyed your post. And great of you to give a shout out to Rilke/Mitchell/Bly, all of whom have similarly shaped my life, process, imagination. I listened to Red Snakes after reading your post and hear the whole production landscape differently, those floor tom rolls and warbling synths now angels and serpents surrounding the watery moonlight of piano and voice. And well done with the deeply moving vocal performance on that recording. It was rewarding to listen through this lens, thanks for sharing about the context.
This was perhaps the most fascinating of your blog posts yet, mainly because I am German and have never read Rilke in translation. I often get angry when I write and it doesn’t come out the way your lyrics do (or any other writer’s lyrics/poetry that I admire). This post reminded me that there is also something to be gained from English not being one’s first language. The notion that “beauty is terror” is so fascinating to me and it made me think of a German word you might like: hinreißend. “hin” can mean towards, gone, or there; “reißend” means something like tearing or ripping. The word is used to describe something so beautiful it rips you apart, it tears at you until you’re gone. It can’t ever be translated in its entirety and it’s just one tiny little word, so how could we ever translate a whole poem, or even a book? I like the idea that I know this word, and might therefore be able to describe it in English in a way that a non-German speaker couldn’t. The same is true for any language, of course. Don’t know what my point is exactly, but I think language shapes the way we see the world and even though it can be alienating, it’s also pretty cool to think how much our perception of the world differs, or doesn’t differ, just because we might or might not know certain words and their meaning
The two Laura mentioned in the post would be a great starting point... Letters and the Bly translation in the post photo. I also really enjoy “The Selected Poetry Of RMR,” translated by Stephen Mitchell.
Hi Laura... I also read "Letters to a Young Poet". As a result, I read a book by Jens Peter Jacobsen (if I remember correctly, Rilke mentions him as an influence)... the book was "Niels Lyhne", which I found visually (mentally) and emotionally stimulating. As a visual artist (photographer) , I find it is very stimulating, and inspiring how different artists from different medium inspire each other. Rilke was inspired by Paul Cezanne (a favorite of mine, among others) and Cubism; and by extension, Pablo Picasso. Alfred Stieglitz, the photographer I was most inspired by, was influenced by Pablo Picasso. These threads weave an incredible tapestry that informs many artists' works.
I am a huge "Lump" fan (both albums), and to read your thoughts on how your writing informed these songs is meaningful to me. "Climb Every Wall", Red Snakes", and "Paradise" was an emotionally powerful set of songs that I found cathartic. Is there a third Lump album in the future?
It is cool your Dad reads your Substack postings and the comments.
I share your love of Rilke, whom I came to on a perhaps strange route, via Philip Roth's novella "The Breast," which if memory serves ends by quoting "Archaic Torso of Apollo" in its entirety--those final lines, "for here there is no place/that does not see you. You must change your life"--I found it absolutely chilling. I dove into Rilke then and have been swimming in those sometimes calming, sometimes turbulent waters ever since. I loved reading in the past that you were inspired by him, and recall a line you quoted from an early poem in one of your videos that once again stunned me--what was it??? On translation, I have preferred Mitchell to Bly, but there is a small press here in Seattle, Sublunary Editions, that published a short volume called "The Voices and Other Poems," translated with great sensitivity by Kristofer Minta. You might check it out. As for "Red Snakes"--clearly LUMP's greatest hit! Any thoughts on the movie "Lou Andreas-Salomé, The Audacity to be Free"--is it worth seeing?
Enjoyed your post. And great of you to give a shout out to Rilke/Mitchell/Bly, all of whom have similarly shaped my life, process, imagination. I listened to Red Snakes after reading your post and hear the whole production landscape differently, those floor tom rolls and warbling synths now angels and serpents surrounding the watery moonlight of piano and voice. And well done with the deeply moving vocal performance on that recording. It was rewarding to listen through this lens, thanks for sharing about the context.
This was perhaps the most fascinating of your blog posts yet, mainly because I am German and have never read Rilke in translation. I often get angry when I write and it doesn’t come out the way your lyrics do (or any other writer’s lyrics/poetry that I admire). This post reminded me that there is also something to be gained from English not being one’s first language. The notion that “beauty is terror” is so fascinating to me and it made me think of a German word you might like: hinreißend. “hin” can mean towards, gone, or there; “reißend” means something like tearing or ripping. The word is used to describe something so beautiful it rips you apart, it tears at you until you’re gone. It can’t ever be translated in its entirety and it’s just one tiny little word, so how could we ever translate a whole poem, or even a book? I like the idea that I know this word, and might therefore be able to describe it in English in a way that a non-German speaker couldn’t. The same is true for any language, of course. Don’t know what my point is exactly, but I think language shapes the way we see the world and even though it can be alienating, it’s also pretty cool to think how much our perception of the world differs, or doesn’t differ, just because we might or might not know certain words and their meaning
I must read Rilke, Where is the best place to start with Rilke? Does anyone have any suggestions?
The two Laura mentioned in the post would be a great starting point... Letters and the Bly translation in the post photo. I also really enjoy “The Selected Poetry Of RMR,” translated by Stephen Mitchell.
Thank you Tree & Booms, I will order the letters…. to start with.
Thank you for sharing this.. I enjoyed “Letters to a young poet.” Both Lump albums are amazing, they are on regular rotation on my playlists.
Hi Laura... I also read "Letters to a Young Poet". As a result, I read a book by Jens Peter Jacobsen (if I remember correctly, Rilke mentions him as an influence)... the book was "Niels Lyhne", which I found visually (mentally) and emotionally stimulating. As a visual artist (photographer) , I find it is very stimulating, and inspiring how different artists from different medium inspire each other. Rilke was inspired by Paul Cezanne (a favorite of mine, among others) and Cubism; and by extension, Pablo Picasso. Alfred Stieglitz, the photographer I was most inspired by, was influenced by Pablo Picasso. These threads weave an incredible tapestry that informs many artists' works.
I am a huge "Lump" fan (both albums), and to read your thoughts on how your writing informed these songs is meaningful to me. "Climb Every Wall", Red Snakes", and "Paradise" was an emotionally powerful set of songs that I found cathartic. Is there a third Lump album in the future?
It is cool your Dad reads your Substack postings and the comments.
I share your love of Rilke, whom I came to on a perhaps strange route, via Philip Roth's novella "The Breast," which if memory serves ends by quoting "Archaic Torso of Apollo" in its entirety--those final lines, "for here there is no place/that does not see you. You must change your life"--I found it absolutely chilling. I dove into Rilke then and have been swimming in those sometimes calming, sometimes turbulent waters ever since. I loved reading in the past that you were inspired by him, and recall a line you quoted from an early poem in one of your videos that once again stunned me--what was it??? On translation, I have preferred Mitchell to Bly, but there is a small press here in Seattle, Sublunary Editions, that published a short volume called "The Voices and Other Poems," translated with great sensitivity by Kristofer Minta. You might check it out. As for "Red Snakes"--clearly LUMP's greatest hit! Any thoughts on the movie "Lou Andreas-Salomé, The Audacity to be Free"--is it worth seeing?