Maria Rilke Letter One Analysis

In Letters to a Young Poet “Letter One”, the wise Rainer Maria Rilke uses word choice to convey a candid and candor tone. While meticulously writing his letter to Franz Kappus, he uses each sentence to motivate young Kappus to find his best self. Rilke is pointing Kappus in the correct direction without giving him strict orders on how to go about improving his writing. He shows through his words and phrases that Kappus’s improvement is crucial, however if Kappus isn't true to himself, his writing will never be what he wants it to be. Kappus must be frank with himself and his writing. As Rilke uses his use of words to reflect tone, he is gifting Kappus very significant lessons.

Rilke explains that he cannot be the one to give Kappus