The Book of Hours: Prayers to a Lowly God

First published in German in 1905, Rainer Maria Rilke's The Book of Hours: Prayers to a Lowly God has not been wholly translated into English in more than 40 years. Annemarie S. Kidder, a native German speaker and interim associate pastor at Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, who has previously translated works by Jurgen Becker and others, here presents careful, rhymed versions of the entire three-part work, which reflects on the duties of the artist and his or her relations to various institutions and constituencies, including God, kings and ""the house of the poor,"" which is ""like a child's hand."" (Dec.)