Rilkes Cornet : ein systematischer Vergleich der drei Fassungen

Rainer Maria RiIke's Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke appears in three separate versions, the 1899 draft, a 1904 revision, and the 1906 revision which is recognized as Rilke's final version of the work.

The brevity, structure, and underlying lyricism of the work have made the changes between versions the subject of occasional, if incomplete, critical attention. However, thus far no line by line or word by word comparison of the three texts has been done. The purpose of this study is to present a systematic and complete analysis of all structural and linguistic changes between the three versions of Cornet.

The first chapter presents the genesis of the three texts, and the second offers a brief interpretation of the 1906 text. The third chapter contains the analysis, section by section, inte grating the three versions of the Cornet. The study shows that Rilke's changes resulted in a superior final version.