This site, devoted to the writings of the renowned poet, features a well-cataloged index of over 100 excerpts from Rilke's poetry. Also highlighted here are featured first lines, titles, a good photo gallery, and several links to other sites. A good resource for the Rilke fan.

Rainer Maria Rilke Archive
http://www.danae.demon.co.uk/rilke/

Archived here are e-texts for 14 of Rilke's most famous works, from "For a Friend," to "The Raising of Lazarus." Visit this site to familiarize yourself with Rilke's poetry, and also look at three excellent photographs of Rilke during different stages of his life (don't miss viewing his self-written epitaph).

BIOGRAPHY
Ranier Maria Rilke (b. 1875) was born in Prague, the son of an army officer. After attending military school, he studied philosophy, history, literature, and art in in Prague, Munich, and Berlin. He wrote verses from a very early age. In 1899 he traveled to Russia (one of his two visits there) and, returning, married Clara Westhoff in 1901. Following the birth of their daughter, Ruth, the two moved to Paris, where Clara worked for the sculptor Rodin (Rilke was writing a monograph on the artist). During the next 12 years, Rilke traveled widely, using Paris as his base. He composed much of his major work during this time: Stundenbuch (The Book of Objects), Neue Gedichte (New Poems), and his autobiographical prose work, The Notebooks of Malte Laurdis Brigge. The Book of Objects was particularly influential in its invention of a new form of lyric poetry, the object poem, which attempts to capture the essence of physical thing. After the outbreak of World War I, he lived mostly in Munich, and in 1919 moved to Switzerland. There he was to write his masterworks, the Duineser Elegien (Duino Elegies) and Sonette an Orpheus (Sonnets to Orpheus). The former stands as his supreme testament of spiritual experience. He died at Valmont new Glion in 1926.