I read letters from one poet to another – Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Letters to a Young Poet – the blurb
Born in 1875, the great German lyric poet Rainer Maria Rilke published his first collection of poems in 1898 and went on to become renowned for his delicate depiction of the workings of the human heart. Drawn by some sympathetic note in 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. Those letters, still a fresh source of inspiration and insight, are accompanied here by a chronicle of Rilke’s life that shows what he was experiencing in his own relationship to life and work when he wrote them.
No poetry here
I read Letters off the back of reading Spring by Ali Smith. The book referred to it and you know I’m a fan of doing things I read about in books!)
At 70 odd pages with size 14 print it’s not a taxing read however it is quite highbrow with Rilke recommending you delve into your solitude and draw upon your childhood in order to write. A background to the letters is provided however the letters from Mr Kappus (Rilke’s correspondent) are not included and the book lacks any actual poetry. It is bolstered by a foreword, an afterword and even Rilke’s Letter from a Young Worker, which did feel like an attempt to make the page count. Looking back I think I liked the blurb more than the book, never a good thing.
