Rilke suggests that in romantic relationships, there is a danger of throwing too much of oneself into the union, and so losing the part that was "you" in the first place. Do you think that is still a danger today, or was that particular to the 19th Century culture in which he wrote? Explain.

Between Puritanism and promiscuity, Rilke hints at something called sacral love. What do you think he meant by that? Do you think his observation that people are missing it is still true today?

Rilke's love poems are intensely intimate and distinctively graphic. Do you think it was his intention to be shocking? What else might have been his motivation in writing so particularly about that moment in lovemaking?

Rilke's sexual imagery is dominantly taken from nature. In what way does that imagery work in accomplishing what you imagine were his...