Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was one of the 20th-century's finest and most influential lyrical poets, taking the German language to new areas of subtlety and expression.

Yet visual images of him are scarce - a mere 50 photos, because after 1907 he refused to have his picture taken.
This programme interweaves the story of his life with extracts from his letters, writings and poetry, in particular his Duineser Elegien ('Duino Elegies'), a cycle of ten poems which he started writing when he was 37 and completed four years before his death in 1926.

We learn of his life as secretary to the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin, and explore the different environments that Rilke was exposed to at an early age, the ultimately helped shape his introspective verse.