Rainer Maria Rilke

Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December, 1875 – 29 December, 1926) is generally considered the German language's greatest 20th century poet. Though he never found a consistent verse form, his haunting images tend to focus on the problems

Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December, 1875 – 29 December, 1926) is generally considered the German language's greatest 20th century poet. Though he never found a consistent verse form, his haunting images tend to focus on the problems of Christianity in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety. He is generally placed in the school of modernist poets, though his religious dilemmas may set him apart from some of his peers.

He wrote in both verse and a highly lyrical prose. His two most famous verse pieces are the Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies; his two most famous prose pieces are the Letters to a Young Poet and the semi-autobiographical Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. He also wrote more than 400 poems in French, dedicated to his homeland of choice, the canton de Valais in Switzerland.