In the opening of Rilke's "Duino Elegies" the first mention of the animal is a as a creature that sees "at once how little at home we are in the interpreted world." (5) What are the sources of discomfort for humans and how are mere animals able to perceive it? The answer lies in the depths of human consciousness and its many constructs. I begin with the main points of Rilke's view of human consciousness and the implications this has for our way of existing such as our limitations. In contrast to the human consciousness I will describe the existence of animals and from this model show how Rilke suggests a consciousness attainable by humans that parallels with the animal consciousness.

In Rilke's "Duino Elegies" there is one vital component that guides the multiple elegies to their fruition of the alternative consciousness and that is the implications and subsequent...