BOOKS: Letters to a Young Poet

Letters to a Young Poet
By Rainer Maria Rilke
(Translation by Stephen Mitchell)

[17/03/2006 ~ 18/03/2006]

Letters to a Young Poet is a small book on the correspondence between a Rainer Maria Rilke and an aspiring poet, Franz Xaver Kappus. This exchange of letters began in 1903 thanks to a missive that Kappus sent to Rilke, and continued for many years, until 1908.

Eloquent and personal, Rilke's meditations on the creative process, the nature of love, and the importance of solitude offer a wealth of spiritual and practical guidance for everyone.

Life will never be easy - but as Rilke tells us, it is the difficulties that nourish us.

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. His life has much trouble and and sadness, and remains far behind yours. If it were otherwise, he would never have been able to find those words.