Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Letters to a Young Poet, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Solitude and Difficulty
Art, Life, and Uncertainty
Patience and Self-Assurance
Mentorship and Guidance
Summary
Analysis
Rilke left Paris ten days ago, traveling north in the hopes of finding some peace. He has read and reread Kappus’s most recent letter, which he finds very touching. In particular, he senses that Kappus has a “beautiful concern about life,” which, rereading the letter after having left the city, jumps out at Rilke much more than it did in Paris. In the city, life is noisy and chaotic, but Rilke can now see—in the peace and quiet of the country—that it would be pointless to answer Kappus’s deep questions: nobody, he says, can answer those questions for the young poet. The feelings and questions themselves live inside Kappus, and it’s unlikely that the young poet can even fully articulate them, since so many things in life are inexpressible.
Once more, Rilke calls attention to the mysterious, ineffable nature of life. He doesn’t want Kappus to see him as a mentor who can answer all of his questions. In fact, he doesn’t even think such a mentor could ever exist, since nobody would be able to answer Kappus’s deep questions about life and art. What he can do, though, is help Kappus embrace his own thinking and learn to appreciate his own “beautiful concern about life.”
Themes
But even if Kappus’s thoughts are inexpressible, Rilke thinks the young poet can still find answers to them—if, that is, he immerses himself in the stillness of the natural world and pays close attention to the small details that so many people overlook. If he learns to love these things, then life will feel rewarding. But reaping the reward of nature and stillness requires patience; it requires time. As such, Rilke implores Kappus to recognize that he’s very young and that he needs to give his many misgivings and concerns the time to develop and take on a meaning of their own. He should, in other words, learn to love “the questions themselves.”
There’s no problem with unanswerable questions. To the contrary, unanswerable questions are simply part of life. Instead of dismissing them, Kappus should learn to love them. He can do so simply by appreciating the small things in life, which will eventually lead him to an understanding of the world that, though he won’t necessarily be able to express it in words, will ultimately enrich his life. Above all, then, he must practice patience and move through the world with an open mind.
Themes
Rilke discusses sex, acknowledging that it can be complicated. He advises Kappus to find a way to develop a relationship with sex that is uniquely his own, rather than bowing to societal expectations surrounding sex. The problem, Rilke claims, isn’t that people desire sex, but that they have it for the wrong reasons—like to distract themselves or to infuse their lives with energy. Instead, people ought to have sex as a way of reaching an elevated state of being. The natural world is full of beauty partially because it’s full of sexual connection. Rilke, for his part, wishes that people wouldn’t reduce sex to something so mundane and straightforward.
Rilke’s thoughts about sex align with his thoughts about art. He doesn’t like the idea of reducing either sex or art to something simple or straightforward. When he mentions that the natural world is full of sexual connection, he invites Kappus to consider the fact that almost everything outdoors exists because of some form of reproduction—a thought that feels almost intangible and difficult to grasp, since the natural world is so vast. It’s exactly this kind of intangibility that Rilke thinks makes sex so beautiful, which is why he tells Kappus not to simply accept society’s mundane approach to it. In the same way that he urges Kappus to steer clear of literary criticism when it comes to writing, he now encourages him to develop his own approach to sex.
Themes
By having sex, Rilke maintains, people become involved in something meaningful and “serious”—especially because sex can lead to new life. As two people come together and have sex, then, they connect with each other while also involving themselves in a significant act of creation. But all of this lies ahead of the young poet, who now finds himself alone. His solitude, however, doesn’t mean he can’t take comfort in the idea that he’ll someday be involved in a “serious” kind of love. Kappus can take pleasure in his own journey toward this future love, letting the love build up in him as he matures.
Rilke suggests that there’s nothing wrong with solitude. Although Kappus doesn’t have a romantic partner right now, Rilke doesn’t want him to rush into anything. Just like his advice about art, then, Rilke tells Kappus to give himself time to develop, hoping that the young poet will learn to appreciate his journey toward real love. In turn, it becomes particularly clear in this moment that Rilke’s thoughts about art also apply to life in general.
Themes
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Rilke is glad Kappus is embarking on a career that will force him to be independent. He tells the young poet to give his new profession time, patiently waiting to see if it will encroach upon his internal world—Rilke himself suspects that the job will make it difficult to have a separate life. Even so, Kappus should always look to his own sense of solitude as a constant source of comfort.
According to historical records, Franz Xaver Kappus was a military officer. At this point in his exchange with Rilke, though, he appears to be at the very beginning of his career. And though Rilke doesn’t try to dissuade him from becoming an officer, he does tell him to make sure the occupation doesn’t completely overtake him and deplete his capacity to think and live like an artist. And yet, he also suggests that Kappus can always take refuge in his own solitude if he ends up feeling overwhelmed by his job. In other words, no matter what kind of professional life he leads, he will always be able to control his personal outlook.
Themes
