Would he die if he couldn’t? If so, then he should do everything in his power to create favorable conditions for writing. Instead of thinking about such things, Kappus should simply ask himself if he needs to write. Nobody can tell him if his work is good-not even Rilke. On the whole, Rilke advises Kappus not to seek out approval from others. Two of them show promise, but they still feel generic. Nonetheless, Rilke can tell Kappus that his poems lack a unique style. People think most things in life can be described in words, but Rilke disagrees-so much of life is “inexpressible,” and analytical writing often fails to grasp the true nature of poetry. He did read them, but there’s not much to say, since literary criticism pales in comparison to poetry itself. In his first response, Rilke thanks the young poet for his letter but says he can’t provide much insight into Kappus’s poems. A long, in-depth correspondence ensued, and Letters to a Young Poet comprises ten of Rilke’s letters to the young man. As a 19-year-old student, Franz Xaver Kappus wrote to the poet Rainer Maria Rilke to ask for advice about his own poetry.
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