Letters to a Young Poet

“And without having intended to do so at all, I found myself writing a covering letter in which I unreservedly laid bare my heart as never before and never since to any single human being.” 

In the introduction, Kappus recounts how he first began a correspondence with the famed Austrian poet, who was eight years his senior. After discovering that Rilke had been a pupil at the same military school as he, Kappus feels an immediate kinship with Rilke, as Kappus also harbors aspirations to become a poet. Kappus notes that in the letter he wrote to Rilke he was able to be open in a way he hasn’t with anyone else—a fact that accounts for the in-depth discussions Rilke has with Kappus in his 10 letters. 

“Things are not all so comprehensible and expressible as one would mostly have us believe; most events are inexpressible, taking place in a realm which no word has ever entered, and more inexpressible than all else are works of art, mysterious existences, the life of which, while ours passes away, endures.” 

In Kappus’s initial letter to Rilke, he sends samples of his poetry and asks Rilke to offer his feedback on them. Rilke declines, explaining that he does not believe poetry allows for neat discussion in critical discourse. For Rilke, any work of art, as well as the entirety of life, contains elements that are irreducible to language, and to attempt such reduction is to detract from artistic power. 

“This above all—ask yourself in the stillest hour of your night: must I write? Delve into yourself for a deep answer.” 

While Kappus is looking for an outside authority to judge his poetry, Rilke tells Kappus that such a search for others’ affirmation is ultimately futile. An individual should look inwards as the basis for their poetry, and only become a writer if they feel a deep, intense need to write.