Washing the Corpse

Rilke, Rainer Maria

Primary Category: Literature / Poetry

Genre: Poem

Annotated by:
Coulehan, Jack
  • Date of entry: May-09-1995

Summary

Two persons are washing the body of a dead man. It becomes dark and they light the kitchen lamp. Because they don't know the man, they invent his story: "since they knew nothing about his life / they lied till they produced another one . . . . " When the body is finally washed, it "lay clean and naked there, and gave commands."

Commentary

This early poem was originally published in New Poems (1908). The setting is dark, mysterious, evocative. The living and dead connect, in a sense. This may well be an interesting poem to read as an adjunct to discussion about students' feelings in gross anatomy.

Miscellaneous

First published: 1908. Translated by Stephen Mitchell.

Primary Source

The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke

Publisher

Vintage

Place Published

New York

Edition

1989

Editor

Stephen Mitchell