Book 1, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke : Chapter 8, Sonnets to Orpheus Summary

The poems in this section are dated 1923. The entire group is labeled not by name but by a combination of numbers. First there is a Roman Numeral and then there is another number. There are excerpts from I & II. The Selections does not include the entire set of numbers from either those listed as Roman Numeral I or Roman Numeral II.

The first one has 4 stanzas. The first two stanzas have 4 lines each; the next two have 3 lines each. The tone is dramatic: Orpheus is called upon during the first stanza. The power of living, majestic trees and of other forces of nature are evoked. Evoked- means the feeling of them being around. Invoked means- one becomes that very energy, oneself...