Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

A colleague recently brought my attention to a collection of epistles between Rainer Maria Rilke and a young student named Franz Kappus. In these letters, Rilke gives advice to the young poet Kappus, but it is truly Rilke who shines. I really want to read it.

Here is a forward from the collection:

All of us who labor in the arts know that it can be a lonely existence. We often find ourselves living a life of solitary dreams, disconnected from others, and driven by a vision that no one else seems to value or share. On some days, this can be overwhelming. We then thirst for a single voice of understanding that will reach into our solitary lives and reassure us that the path we have chosen is worthy, and that the rewards it offers are worth the loneliness it entails.

That voice is Rainer Maria Rilke.

by Kent Nerburn

While I don't completely agree with Nerburn, I believe that he has most of it right. We don't choose to write, it chooses us.