"you must change your life"

no.

lol

the poem doesn't really make a convincing case imo

where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise

apollo can see you with his nads

i really like this poem because it captures the suggestive power of statue fragments. do not like the "eyes like ripening fruit" simile. the last line is a nice trick i guess. something for other poets to riff on:

Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly,
Asleep on the black trunk,
Blowing like a leaf in green shadow.
Down the ravine behind the empty house,
The cowbells follow one another
Into the distances of the afternoon.
To my right,
In a field of sunlight between two pines,
The droppings of last year’s horses
Blaze up into golden stones.
I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on.
A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.
I have wasted my life.

rilke has been appropriated a lot by self-help gurus/new age parasites. is this his fault?

Are writers ever responsible for their readers? (I would say no)

I mean, I understand why you're asking the question -- I sometimes feel similar misgivings about RMR -- but I think it's the wrong question. I find it more useful to frame it as: What part of me (us) is responding so strongly to this poetry? I don't worry about whether the response it provokes is the 'right one', or has changed since the author's time.

Certainly there is enough evidence in the writing itself to convict Rilke (or his poetic persona) of a sentimental inclination towards certain kinds of facile spiritual notions, if you felt inclined to do so; I don't think it's necessary to drag reception history into it... Maybe contemporary reception, if you wanted to claim that he developed that persona in the context of relationships with wealthy patrons?

"more useful" above was not exactly the right phrasing, I should perhaps say: it is more INTERESTING, to me, to accept that a serious engagement with Rilke's work never fails to produce certain spiritual effects in me, and to focus my scrutiny on the life circumstances that draw me back to the well, rather than on the water therein

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I'm surprised having this thread in SNA hasn't netted more thread connections posts

Would have voted for the last one but zing vote button is on the fritz and didn't remember too when I got back to dry landmy laptop.