New Release

Chiron Publications, 2011

In the Image of Orpheus

Rilke ~ A Soul History

“A masterpiece…” “A profound book…” read praise for In the Image of Orpheus

In the Image of Orpheus tells the inner story of Rilke’s literary career, tracing—step by step—the mythopoetic journey inscribed in the interweaving lines of the poet’s life and art. Blending biography with in-depth analyses of Rilke’s poetry and prose (from his little-known Visions of Christ through the Sonnets to Orpheus), this lively narrative draws upon Jung and Hillman, Plato and Petrarch, Apuleius, Ibn Arabi, and Lou Andreas-Salomé as it unfolds the poet-seer’s compelling vision of the nature and destiny of the human soul—a vision as timely as it is timeless.

“The best study on Rilke I have read in English…. A superb piece of academic scholarship and much more…. This book offers an education not only in Rilke and Hillman, but also in what soul-making means in a person’s life.” —LUDWIG FISCHER