“Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rainer Maria Rilke

“Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rainer Maria Rilke in the original German and translations into English by Stephen Mitchell, A. Z. Foreman, Edward Snow, and Sarah Stutt are compiled by Dean Rader, a self-described “poet, art writer, scholar, and critic.” An 11-minute video by Dean Rader provides context. Rilke’s original poem is a rhyming sonnet, although most English translations do not follow any rhyme scheme. While the concepts of the original poem are rendered well in English, it should be noted that the rhythmic musicality of the original German is mostly lost in translation.

For context, the sculpture that is said to have inspired the poem is currently housed in The Louvre, after having been discovered in Miletus.