Tsvetaeva ‘27

After Rilke’s sudden death at the end of 1926, Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva wrote two works addressed to Rilke that sit among the great European modernist poems. These astounding works rose directly out of the relationship she had had with Rilke and they develop many of the ideas and images of their close correspondence. In ‘New Year Letter’ Tsvetaeva addresses Rilke in the afterlife; and ‘Poem of the Air’ draws a new poetic cosmology from his death.Tsvetaeva ‘27 presents new translations of both works, alongside a new translation of the ‘Elegy’ Rilke wrote to Tsvetaeva. The poems are accompanied by a creative essay which sets out the circumstances of the poems’ generation, and offers some insight into the translation process.Tsvetaeva’s tragic biography often dominates any discussion of her work. This book is an attempt to redress this imbalance: it presents a poet absolutely in control of her medium and her poetic destiny; a poet who ranks among the finest European writers and thinkers of any age.