Disclaimer: This post is intended to be humorous because of copying and grammar errors, not to make fun of the great works of author Rainer Maria Rilke. If you seriously want to learn about Letters to a Young Poet, go to this link to read the pre-translated article.
Hello Readers Clay!! Happy April Day! *confetti* I think I’ll write an article this month about Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letter to Young Poet (actually, because I searched my poetry shelf and tried to find a place I’d never written about O.o). I originally thought of writing this article in response to a letter to Rilke, but decided that a simple introduction would be more helpful to those who had never heard of the book. But in order to make my article look like the real Rilke, I decided to translate it into German. (and Slovenian, Welsh, Maltese, Persian and Thai…) using Google Translate! And I also write in an informal tone. So it’s more like writing a letter to your readers! I know all intermediate readers will appreciate some of the emojis too! ????
When I started writing poetry more seriously my family found a book called Letters to a Young Poet and gave it to me (they probably thought it was full of writing tips ????♀️). But it’s filled with Rilke’s clear and straightforward advice about becoming an artist, looking forward to waiting for love, seeking God, etc. (I know Anise is banging her head! *grins evilly at other Rilke fans*).
Rainer Maria Rilke was a German poet born in 1875 from a retired military officer and an inquisitive and tenacious (O.O.) religious mother. At the age of 11 he was sent to a military boarding school, which he hated because of his sensitive nature, and five years later due to health problems, he would get an illness that had plagued him throughout his life. During this time he had already begun writing works that were romantic and sentimental in nature. He was inspired by writer Jens Peter Jacobsen and his visits with Russian artists who were more religious than other Europeans. However, Rilke rejected Christianity in favor of Nietzsche’s philosophy that man was his own creator and the abstract idea of God as an evolving life force. He’s not a good person! ???? However, Rilke’s work represents a lifelong search for meaning and living in chaos. Until his death in 1926, Rilke kept the faith he built on his own ????
Despite the lack of basic knowledge of his studies and work, Rilke’s letters provide the young poet with insight into Rilke’s fascinating life and his optimistic attitude. Solitude even in writing letters (Has anyone said that?) His words are a balm for other poets and artists who need strength to face a harsh world as a sensitive observer. However, Rilke is also honest and open-minded. And he opened his heart to his young journalist, Franz Kappus, on a page now accessible to readers around the world. Rilke’s genius as a writer and thinker is obvious. And some of his most quoted passages can be remembered even by those who have not read this collection. In the sixth letter that he wrote, he said, “This is loneliness. great inner loneliness” (I remember this from Ms. Yagel’s poetry section…)
For those who are not interested in reading letters just for talented writers, this collection is full of other gems, especially for the romantic soul who appreciates the best of language. He began his first letter to Rilke with specific writing advice addressed to the young poet who wrote a letter to but it applies to everyone. Rilke asks readers, “In the quietest hour of the night ask yourself: Shall I write?” Go deep within yourself and search for profound answers. and if so if you can answer serious questions with a concise and simple ’should,’ then you’re right. Then build your life with that desire. Your life until the most peaceful and indifferent times. It must be a sign and witness to this intuition.” It’s still with me and from my continued writing efforts, I can confirm
When a writer or artist reads this message they will want to continue reading the nine letters for more comprehensive advice on various topics. In the fourth letter, Rilke speaks of doubt and pleasure (“Trying to love yourself with questions like a closed room and likes books written in foreign languages”). In the sixth letter, the artist’s needs – solitude and the search for God and about the power of love in the seventh letter. In the eighth letter he enters into philosophical reflections on the power of sadness and the future to change us (“The future is predetermined. Dear Kappus But we move through infinite space. How can we not have a hard time? “). It ends with Kappus entering military service and Rilke’s general wish for future happiness, courage and his inner greatness.
“This is what I have always said: Desire is to find enough patience to endure. and how easy it is to believe it. To have more and more confidence in your difficulties and loneliness among others. Otherwise let life happen to you. Believe me, life is real already.”
And these are just words that my mind ignores and draws. Other readers will surely find infinite value. Readers are advised to exercise discretion. As Christians aware of Rilke’s moral and religious errors may wish to skip the sexuality section, however, I recommend those old enough to admire Rilke to read Letters to a Young Poet as soon as possible!! And if his prose is amazing who knew how amazing his poems were? (Obviously I’m not… So don’t take my word for it, go read it and I yell at myself for reading it xP) Wait what ????
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonid_Pasternak_-_Portrait_painting_of_Rainer_Maria_Rilke.jpg
Sources:
“Rainer Maria Rilke.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rainer-maria-rilke.
Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letters to a Young Poet. Translated by M. D. Herter Norton, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.