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LXXI. Rilke and Jens Peter Jacobsen
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
Nothing at first glance seems more incongruous than to link the atheistic Jacobsen with the seeming piety of the Stunden-Buch, itself an outcome of the ineradicable experience of Russia as Rilke saw it. Russia was the motivation for his hitherto most feverish quest for God. It was not the calm acceptance of the “Geschichten vom lieben Gott,” which originated simultaneously with the Buch vom mönchischen Leben, but a frenzied search for a God who was to be adequate for all the future and who could be built anew by all the artists of the ages to come. Rilke's ubiquitous God is more pantheistic than he is evolutionary; being in all things, he cannot be used up by successive generations as an anthropomorphic God is. It was Ellen Key's mistake to interpret Rilke's conception of God as a finality, on the basis of the “Geschichten vom lieben Gott,” which had been dedicated to her, and to imply that he was evolutionary as Jacobsen the evolutionist had interpreted him, at the very time that Rilke's whole intensity was concentrated on his God of the future. The “Geschichten vom lieben Gott” and the “Stunden-Buch” supplement each other and should never have been considered one without the other. Rilke's God of the future does not nullify the God of the past, and there is really no contradiction for Rilke in the idea of an evolutionary God, an eternal God, and one who is to be built by all the generations to come. God is like our ancestors who have gone before us: “Und doch sind sie, diese Langvergangenen, in uns, als Anlage, als Last auf unserem Schicksal, als Blut, das rauscht, und als Gebärde, das aufsteigt aus den Tiefen der Zeit.”
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- Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1939
References
123 Rilke's letters reveal his fear that Ellen Key might give false impressions for lack of understanding. In Briefe iii, 284 ff., he finally voices his protest.
124 In her essay Ein Gottsucher (1904). Ellen Key knew nothing about the existence of the Stunden-Buch at that time.
125 Insel-Bücherei 406, 33 ff.; Mövius, op. cit., pp. 99 ff.
126 NL, op. cit, p. 278.
127 Introduction to Briefe von J. P. Jacobsen (Berlin, 1919), i, 81.
128 Diederichs, i, 286 f.
129 NL, op. cit., 181.
130 Ibid.
131 Ibid., p. 182.
132 Marie Grubbe, op. cit., 330.
133 Cf. Briefe vi, 98 ff., 110 f., 113, for a series of letters with regard to Jacobsen in 1916.
134 Marie Grubbe, op. cit., 261.
135 Ibid., 331.
136 Briefe vi, 111.
137 NL, op. cit., 182.
138 Ibid., 180.
139 Ibid., 277 f.
140 BJD, 17, 18.
141 Twelfth Night, ii. Sc. 3.
142 Werke, ii, 273.
143 Sechs Novellen, op. cit., pp. 126 f.
144 Briefe vi, 110, and previous to that Briefe vi, 99: “eine der unvergeβlichsten Erzählungen der Welt.”
145 Marie Grubbe, op. cit., 196.
146 Diederichs, i, 199 f.
147 Mövius, op. cit., 20 ff.
148 From an unpublished letter to Clara Rilke, in the R.-A.
149 MS No. 136 in the R.-A.
150 Werke, ii, 273, 274, 275.
151 I reconstructed them, with the aid of the rhymes, which are fairly clear, and by consulting the Weimar text printed in Ruth Mövius' book. There are two variations in my reading. The Weimar text, in the third line, reads “hart” instead of “streng.” The sixth line reads: “Er dauerte in täglichem Verzichte.”
152 Mövius, op. cit., p. 243.
153 See Carl Sieber's introduction to: Ueber Gott —Zwei Briefe—(Leipzig, 1933).
154 For special treatment of the “Todesproblem in Rilke's poetry see Pongs, op. cit.
Jürgen Petersen, Das Todesproblem bei Rainer Maria Rilke (Würzburg, 1935).
Fritz Nolte, Der Todesbegriff bei Rainer Maria Rilke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal und Thomas Mann (Heidelberg, 1934).
Fritz Dehn, Rainer Maria Rilke und sein Werk (Leipzig, 1934).
155 Briefe ii, 69.
156 Diederichs, i, 194 f.
157 Ibid., 251.
158 Ibid., 273, 275.
159 From a manuscript letter to Clara Rilke June 1, 1902, in R.-A.
160 From copy of a letter to Arthur Holitscher, dated Villa Strohl-Fern, March 16, 1904, in the R.-A. The volume in Die Dichtung was written by Hans Bethge. It is No. xxix (Berlin and Leipzig, 1905).
161 Briefe ii, 150.
162 Betz, French edition, op. cit., 120.
163 Cf. his poem entitled “Intérieur,” which has already been mentioned.
164 From copy of a letter in the R.-A.
165 Numbered in the R.-A. 540 to 549 inclusive.
166 This had first been translated, in part, by Stefan George. See Note 7.
167 MS 550 is the notebook containing Rilke's translation of the Kierkegaard letters.
168 From a manuscript letter to Clara Rilke dated October 21, 1904, in the R.-A.
169 Worpswede, p. 46. The same thought comes to him before Van Gogh's pictures in 1907: Blühende Bäume, wie nur Jacobsen sie gemacht hat“ (Briefe iii, p. 344).
170 Briefe ii, 307.
171 Briefe iii, 31.
172 From an unpublished letter, manuscript in R.-A., dated February 26, 1910.
173 Briefe v, 93.
174 Ibid., 161.
175 The Insel Verlag did not reprint this scientific part in the later editions.
176 From copy of a letter in the R.-A. “D.S.” stands for “Dottor Serafico,” the Princess' name for Rilke, who, after July 21, 1911, always used this signature in letters to her. Joh. Jörgensen, Geschichte der dänischen Literatur (Kempten und München, 1908), p. 137, calls Jacobsen the “Seraph des dänischen Realismus.”
177 Betz, German translation, op. cit., p. 189.
178 Ibid.
179 (Kj⊘benhavn, 1886), 201 pp. 2. Opl. (Kj⊘benhavn, 1900), 213 pp. Rilke used the latter edition; see Briefe v, 93.
180 Probably the same edition which Arnold had used with a later date, perhaps 1902, 4. Udg. It was the only one then existing: Samlede Skrifter af J. P. Jacobsen, 2 Bde.
181 Cf. Werke, iv, 161, the laurel as “Todespflanze.”
182 Anna Linck, op. cit., p. 74.
183 Lou Andreas-Salomé, op. cit., p. 80; J. R. von Salis, op. cit., p. 100.
184 Cf. René Rapin, “Rilke, Jacobsen et Rodin,” Bibliothèque Universelle et Revue de Genève, ii (1925), pp. 1734–43.
185 Briefe ii, 15: “und Rodin lebt noch.”
186 Briefe ii, 15 and 156; in the letters to Ellen Key and to Kappus; and others; in 1925 to Maurice Betz.
187 From a letter to Ellen Key; copy in the R.-A., dated April 2, 1904.
188 Werke, iv, 387.
189 Briefe ii, 156.
190 Ibid., 33.
191 Sechs Novellen, op. cit., p. 46.
192 Ibid., 47.
193 To Hugo Heller in 1908. Cf. his use of “Bereitschaft” and MS 545.
194 Werke, iv, 388.
195 Auguste Rodin, “Die Kunst,” Gespräche (Paul Gsell) (1913), p. 34.
196 Ibid., p. 35.
197 Ibid., p. 135.
198 Ibid., pp. 134 f.
199 Sechs Novellen, op. cit., in the Novelle “Zwei Welten,” p. 81.
200 J. P. Jacobsen, Samlede Vœrker (Kj⊘benhavn, 1924–29), i, 319.
201 Werke, iv, 345.
202 The Prœsls Dagebog had a marked influence on Malle. See Betz, French edition, op. cit., p. 118. See also Les Cahiers du Mois, 23/24, March-April, 1926, 83 f., in which Christian Rimestad disparages Jacobsen's influence on Rilke but stresses that of Obstfelder.
203 Ges. Werke, iii, 250.
204 Diederichs, i, 245.
205 Werke, iii, 150, 151, 153.
206 In the ninth chapter.
207 Marie Grubbe, op. cit., p. 19.
208 Maurice Betz, French edition, op. cit., p. 119.
209 See Note 17.
210 Malte remarks that no one could ever forget Ulrik Christian. The two deathbed scenes, the Chamberlain's in Malte and Ulrik Christian's in Marie Grubbe, are very similar.
211 Werke, iii, 67.
212 Werke, v, 19.
213 For example Briefe ii, 234.
214 A reference to Werke, v, 277.
215 Maurice Betz, German version, op. cit., p. 111.
216 See Note 202. However, Emil Gasser, op. cit., has made a number of analogies between Jacobsen's style and Rilke's in Malle, such as the repetition of verb, noun, adjective, and pronoun. Paula Huber, in her typewritten dissertation, reviews them, adds others, and then concludes that they are all not very important.
217 Diederichs, i, 245. The reference is to “La Légende de Saint Julien l'Hospitalier” from Trois Contes (Paris, 1928), pp. 76 ff. This is Vol. xix of Œuvres Complètes.
218 Werke, v, p. 90, and the corresponding passage in Briefe iii, 393 f.
219 NL, op. cit., 77 f.
220 Werke, v, 23.
221 Ibid., 78 ff.
222 Ibid., 190.
223 NL, op. cit., p. 172.
224 Werke, v, 248.
225 Sechs Novellen, op. cit., p. 84.
226 See Worpswede, the letters, and Note 169.
227 Cf. Gertrud Scheibel, Rilke und die bildende Kunst, Gieβen, 1933.
228 Two by Cézanne: Entführung; Versuchung; two by Manet: Der Balkon, der Leser. Hans-Wilhelm Hagen, Rilkes Umarbeitungen, Leipzig, 1931.
229 MS 547.
230 The peculiar form “Zwei Welt” which took Rilke's fancy was due to Marie Herzf eld's misunderstanding. The title To Verdener was dear to Jacobsen's heart. He chose it for a Novelle—actually he calls it a “Skizze,” it is so short—which was published in 1879. Edvard Brandes (whose letter we do not have) had evidently questioned the title as misleading, saying that it suggested the “Revue des deux Mondes.” From Jacobsen's letters, we gather that when Jacobsen clung tenaciously to his “To Verdener,” Edvard Brandes had written him a second time, fearing that the author might become offended at this interference with his privileges. Thereupon Jacobsen replied: “Det vilde ganske vist ikke ligne mig synderligt at blive ‘fornærmet’ paa de To Verdners Vegne. Tror du ikke ogsaa, at Titien mindete mig om Revuen? Jeg havde neer af Kaadhed kaldt det hele: To Verd., Roman af J.P.J.” (Breve fra J. P. Jacobsen, Kj⊘benhavn, 1899, p. 92). It must be remarked that Jacobsen, who was severely criticized for his formlessness, carefully avoided calling either Marie Grubbe or Niels Lyhne by the conventional designation “Roman.”
Marie Herzfeld translated the Danish passage incorrectly, with a footnote that is sheer nonsense: “Es würde ganz gewiβ mir nicht sonderlich ähnlich sehen, wegen ‘Zwei Welten’ beleidigt zu sein. Glaubst Du, daβ der Titel nicht auch mich an Revuen erinnere! Ich hätte aus Uebermut das Ganze fast: ‘Zwei Welt,‘ Roman von J.P.J. genannt.” Footnote: “Gemeint sind die in Dänemark sehr beliebten singspielartigen Stücke, die in parodistischer Weise die Ereignisse des Jahres Revue passieren lassen.” (From the first edition.) An abbreviation was translated literally, the spacing of “Roman” ignored, and the whole point of the original lost. The Danish reviews poked fun at this German translation for this and other inaccuracies. Subsequent Diederichs editions then corrected the “Zwei Welt” to read: “Zwei Wit.” but the footnote has gone unchanged through the editions.
Rilke fastened upon this mistranslation which he found in the first edition, and in time he construed it in accordance with his own method of interpretation. The tenacity with which Jacobsen insisted on his “Two Worlds” title was perhaps not unconnected with the “Zweiseelenmensch” that he was.
231 Briefe iii, 349.
232 Cf. Note 100 and Werke, ii, 341: “O alter Fluch der Dichter,” in which Jacobsen's “eigner Tod” and Rodin's objectivity are both represented.
233 Briefe iii, 377.
234 Diederichs, i, xxxvii.
235 Niels Lyhne, pp. 40 f.
236 Ibid., 47 f.
237 Ibid., 112.
238 Werke, iv, 285.
239 J. R. von Salis, op. cit., pp. 139 and 219 f. The letter was written to Frau Nanny Wunderly-Volkart, it is undated and was received in February, 1920.
240 Diederichs, i, 254.
241 See Jacobsen's letters of November 29, 1877, and February 12, 1878 (Diederichs, i, 241 f., 248 f.).
242 Ibid., 295.
243 Ibid., 313.
244 Ibid., 311.
245 Briefe iv, 147.
246 Maurice Betz, German version, op. cit., p. 187.
247 Werke, ii, 119 ff.
248 Betz, op. cit., p. 188.
249 Idem. The poem Diederichs, i, 418.