Rainer Maria Rilke Letter One Analysis

Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet: Letter one” is a letter written to a young poet who is asking for advice. The young poet has asked many people for opinions on his poems and has compared them to other poems. He has sent his poems to “magazines” and “certain editors” asking them for advice (p.5). Rilke tells the young poet that “no one can advise or help you-no one” (p.5). In this letter, Rilke shows the young poet how to become a better poet by looking within himself.

Throughout the letter, Rilke tries to give his best advice to the young poet without criticizing his work. Some word choices in his advice was “spread its roots into the very depths of your heart” (p.6). In this quote, Rilke was saying that the young poet needs to ask himself “must I write?” or even would you “die if you were forbidden to write” (p. 6). He believes that if you feel you can live …show more content…
If the poet thinks his life is boring or poor to write about, he is to blame himself, not the environment. Rilke believes that a true poet will write about anything and “call forth its riches” (p.6). An example is when Rilke tells the young poet to imagine himself in a prison where the walls let in none of the “world’s sounds” (p.6). The young poet would still have his childhood and past to write about. Rilke describes a person’s childhood as a “treasure house of memories” (p.6). This will make the young poet’s personality “grow stronger” (p.6).

The tone of this letter is commanding, somewhat like a teacher. Rilke isn’t commanding the young poet to look within himself in a harsh way, but in a helping tone. He gives the young poet tips on how to become a better poet and improve his poems. Rilke’s last piece of advice for the young poet was to “keep growing” (p.7). In this letter, Rilke taught the young poet to look into himself, and not look outside for