Letters to a Young Poet
Drawn by some sympathetic note in one of his poems, young people often wrote to Rilke with their problems and hopes.From 1903 to 1908 Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young would-be poet, on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. Accompanying the...
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Drawn by some sympathetic note in one of his poems, young people often wrote to Rilke with their problems and hopes.From 1903 to 1908 Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young would-be poet, on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. Accompanying the letters is a chronicle of Rilke's life showing what he was experiencing in his own relationship to life and work when he wrote these letters.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780393310399 (0393310396)
ASIN: 393310396
Publish date: August 1st 1993
Publisher: Norton
Pages no: 123
Edition language: English
Category:
Classics,
Non Fiction,
Autobiography,
Memoir,
Biography,
Writing,
Essays,
Language,
Literature,
European Literature,
Philosophy,
Poetry,
German Literature
This is the kind of book everyone should read every year.
The fame of “Letters to a Young Poet” has been known to me for some time, though from the negative aspect primarily. Most people complained about the condescending way in which Rilke wrote to Kappus, and how his words are easy to throw away because one if not willing to listen to someone who thinks ...
Every aspiring author should read this book, or at least its first letter: the one in which Rilke exposes what should truly motivate a writer.
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.”It feels quite trite to say this slim collection is inspirational.But there you go.It is.
A true work of art! And out of respect for Rilke's disdain for criticism--"Works of art are of an infinite solitariness, and nothing is less likely to bring us near to them than criticism. Only love can apprehend and hold them, and can be just towards them."--I will keep my own thoughts to a minimum...
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