Rilke's Sonette an orpheus: The tombeau, dance, and the Adonic

Abstract

Rilke's Sonette an Orpheus can be read in the tradition of the French tombeau, but differ from it since they intend a memorial for a dancer, whose art leaves no trace. The sonnet is an inherently static form, good for erecting a monument such as Mallarmé's 'Tombeau de Charles Baudelaire', but seemingly less well suited to dance. Rilke makes the sonnet dance, in particular by inflecting it with classical metres, chiefly the Adonic. The meanings of the sonnets unfold in their way of moving. Their grace and meaning are akin to those of dance, forming and dissolving in one movement.