New Poems (1907-1908) represented a departure for Rilke from the traditional German lyric poetry of which he was then considered a master. Apparent in these poems is the influence of Rodin -- for whom Rilke had worked -- as well as other visual artists, including Hokusai, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Picasso. In this collection, Rilke forced his language to extremes of subtlety and refinement that only now, in Stephen Cohn's translations, is being captured properly in English.
