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 acknowledges that it has been a while since he received Kappus’s last letter. But he couldn’t write because he was dealing with poor health. Now, though, he feels better and can finally write a response. Enclosed with the letter is a sonnet by Kappus that Rilke has copied out with his own hand. He likes the sonnet very much and wants the young poet to have the experience of reading his own work written out in someone else’s hand—it will seem foreign and strange, but this strangeness will allow Kappus to fully feel the beautiful effect of his own words.
The fact that Rilke takes so much pleasure in Kappus’s sonnet suggests that Kappus is developing into a stronger poet. When he first wrote to Rilke, he sent poems that Rilke said had no unique style—they were, in other words, generic and unremarkable. Now, though, Kappus’s sonnet is moving enough to inspire Rilke to copy it out and send it back to him, indicating that he recognizes and appreciates the strides the young poet has made as an artist.
Themes
Returning once again to the topic of solitude, Rilke tells Kappus not to give up on it just because he feels an impulse to leave his lonesomeness behind. The desire to “break out” of solitude might actually help the young poet; people tend to take the path of least resistance in life, always doing what’s easiest. But there’s something valuable about difficulty. And solitude, of course, is difficult. Therefore, Kappus should revel in solitude because it’s hard and taxing.
Rilke’s fondness for difficulty might seem counterproductive at first, since many people view difficulty as something to be avoided. But Rilke believes the opposite: challenging experiences actually lead to growth, since they put people to the test and force them to somehow rise above difficulty. In terms of solitude, this might mean learning how to live with a feeling of loneliness. Instead of despairing and fixating on the sad feeling of being alone, Rilke implies that Kappus should learn to appreciate his solitude, which gives him the space and time to revel in the world’s beauty. In this way, solitude enriches his life, despite (or perhaps because of) its difficulty.
Themes
Another difficult thing in life is love. Rilke thinks that figuring out how to truly love someone might be the most difficult task on earth. Young people therefore have to learn how to love, but the very process of learning is always hard and full of solitude. Loving, then, is also a surprisingly solitary endeavor, at least at first. In fact, love doesn’t mean completely uniting and “merging” with another person—after all, in order for two people to come together, they first must be their own people; they must be fully-formed individuals. In a way, then, love encourages people to become themselves.
Solitude is very important for Rilke, but he also speaks fondly of love and romantic connection. It might seem like solitude and love are at odds with one another, but he outlines in this moment why this is not the case. In order for two people to truly come together in a meaningful way, they have to each have their own sense of autonomy. They have to be individuals, since it would be a lot less meaningful for two things to “merge” if they weren’t distinct from each other in the first place. Solitude and love are therefore not at odds with one another—to the contrary, they complement each other.
Themes
Young people tend to rush into love, their lives becoming intertwined before they even manage to establish themselves as individuals. Their romantic relationships suffer as a result, and instead of experiencing a rich, complex, and unique bond, they end up mindlessly following social customs surrounding love. Rilke also points out that society tends to treat women as mere counterparts to men. Soon, though, he predicts that society will come to recognize women as true individuals—femininity will become not just “an opposite of the masculine, but something in itself.” When this happens, the nature of romantic relationships will change, since it will be easier for lovers to come together as individuals: each lover will have their own independence and solitude, making it easier to develop stronger bonds.
In the same way that Rilke doesn’t think young poets like Kappus should immediately attempt difficult poetic forms, he doesn’t think young people should jump headlong into romantic relationships. In order for a romantic bond to be rewarding, both partners have to be fully formed individuals, so devoting oneself to someone else before having the time to fully mature isn’t such a good idea (according to Rilke, that is). For this reason, he looks forward to the day when society gives women more room to embrace a sense of autonomy, which will not only enrich their lives but will also strengthen their romantic relationships.
Themes
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