rainer maria rilke letter to a young poet

I know life will get sunnier soon, it always does. But if it were otherwise, perhaps, as Rilke wrote, I would never have been able to find these words and poems to share. As much as I ache for the gentle light, sometimes the darkness is just too deep. I’m not a big fan of March and April, as they mark too many personal anniversaries of loss. If it were otherwise, he would never have been able to find those words.Īs lovely as it is, Spring is a difficult time of year for me. His life has much trouble and sadness, and remains far behind yours. You must realize that something is happening to you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall.Īnd if there is one more thing that I must say to you, it is this: Don’t think that the person who is trying to comfort you now lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes give you pleasure. Kappus, if a sadness rises in front of you, larger than any you have ever seen if an anxiety, like light and cloud-shadows, moves over your hands and over everything you do. Most comforting to be read as a whole versus any snippets I may extract for you, though if forced, the following stand-out to me:

–Harry Fainlight, The Times (London) 'I read Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet every day.“I want to talk to you again for a little while…” A bit of a longer read for you, dear friend and reader, from Rilke. 'I cannot think of a better book to put into the hands of any young would-be poet, as an inspirational guide to poetry and to surviving as a poet in a hostile world.' Whatever happens, your life will find its own paths from that point on, and that they may be good, productive and far-reaching is something I wish for you more than I can say.' –Rainer Maria Rilke For he who creates must be a world of his own and find everything within himself and in the natural world that he has elected to follow. Then assume this fate and bear it, its burden and its greatness, without ever asking after the rewards that may come from outside. Perhaps it will turn out that you are called to be an artist. Accept this answer as it is, without seeking to interpret it. 'For this reason, my dear Sir, the only advice I have is this: to go into yourself and to examine the depths from which your life springs at its source you will find the answer to the question of whether you have to write.

Rainer maria rilke letter to a young poet