Rainer M. Rilke's Letters To A Young Poet

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In Letters to a Young Poet “Letter One” by Rainer M. Rilke, a young poet sends his poems and writes a letter to Rainier Rilke seeking advice from the poet himself. In the letter that Rilke sends to the young poet, he offers the poet advice by using specific words choices and phrases to make an impact on the meaning and the tone of his letter. By giving the young poet advice, Rilke uses a form of commands in a sincere, friendly kind of way. He advises the young poet to avoid certain things in the art of poetry and to write from within himself. Rilke’s word choices create meaning by focusing on the importance of the individual in his or her own artwork.

In “Letter One,” there are two major advises that Rilke is trying to impact on the young …show more content…

The quotes, “go into yourself” and “dig into yourself” is Rilke telling the young poet to write from within, such as expressing himself in his own artwork. Rilke directly instructs the young poet which types of poems to avoid when he says, “Don’t write love poems” because they are “too facile and ordinary” and they “are the hardest to work with” (p.6). Instead, Rilke tells the young poet to write about his “everyday life” (p.6) by using the “things” around him or his “dreams” or the “objects” the young poet remembers and also tells the poet to “turn [his] attention” to his “childhood” memories to create poems (all words on p. 6). He states to the poet that his “personality will grow stronger” and his “solitude will expand” (p.6) if the young poet would stop seeking for others advice and write from within. Rilke also tells the poet to stop seeking what “rewards”(p.7) might come out of his work of art. Rilke states, “if one can live without writing then one, then one shouldn't write all” (p.7). This quote could apply to all arts whether it's music, literature, sports, etc. It means that if something (such as different arts) doesn't come naturally to someone (such as musicians, artist, poets, etc.) then they should “renounce” (p.7) on what they are and continue on “self-searching” (p.7) their true potentials. This piece of

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