The reputation of Rainer Maria Rilke has grown steadily since his death in 1926; today he is widely considered to be the greatest poet of the twentieth century. This Modern Library edition presents Stephen Mitchell's acclaimed translations of Rilke, which have won praise for their re-creation of the poet's rich formal music and depth of thought. "If Rilke had written in English," Denis Donoghue wrote inThe New York Times Book Review,"he would have written in this English."Ahead of All Partingis an abundant selection of Rilke's lifework. It contains representative poems from his early collectionsThe Book of HoursandThe Book of Pictures;many selections from the revolutionaryNew Poems,which drew inspiration from Rodin and Cezanne; the hitherto little-known "Requiem for a Friend"; and a generous selection of the late uncollected poems, which constitute some of his finest work. Included too are passages from Rilke's influential novel,The...