Letters to a Young Poet is a collection of letters written between two poets. One being the famous Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke and an aspiring young poet Franz Kappus. Kappus is a student at a military academy but contemplates whether or not he should pursue his career of being a poet. Kappas writes to Rilke seeking critiques on his previous works of art and advice on his decision. Rilke responds with a letter that is structured into three different sections. Each section contains a different tone and advice. Rilke meticulously picks specific words and phrases to effectively put together the first letter. The word choice used portrays a message connotatively and denotatively. Throughout “Letter One,” two central ideas emerge: individuality is the most important thing in writing and beauty comes from within your soul. Rilke’s word choice develops the two central ideas and establishes tone throughout the three sections.
In the first section of “Letter One,” Rilke writes in a very serious and
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Rilke acknowledges and thanks Kappus for putting trust in him by sending him the letter. Rilke’s final piece of advice for Kappus is “to keep growing, silently and earnestly” and to stop “looking outside and waiting for outside answers” (2). Rilke reiterates that to write beautiful poems and answer questions, you have to dig deep in your soul to find the answers. As a wrap up to the letter, Rilke connects with Kappus by acknowledging the fact that they both had the same professor and asks Kappus to thank Professor Horacek for thinking of him (2). Finally, Rilke reveals his humble attitude by saying, “I thank you once more for your questions and sincere trust, of which, by answering as honestly as I can, I have tried to make myself a little worthier than I as a stranger, really am” (2). Rilke truly cared for Kappus and helped him the best he could with his important