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Letter 8
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
Even if he takes a long time to reply, Rilke assures Kappus that he thinks about him very often. In response to Kappus’s previous letter, Rilke says there’s no reason for him to address each of the young poet’s concerns—the advice Rilke has always offered will suffice in this situation, too: namely, that Kappus should practice patience when dealing with feelings of doubt. Life will sort everything out. And any emotion that fully seizes the young poet is worth embracing. Lastly, Rilke urges Kappus to see doubt as something he can “train” and use to his advantage. He should pay attention to his doubting thoughts, always asking why he feels doubtful in the first place and putting his doubt to the test. In this way, he will develop a very useful way of thinking.
Rilke’s ninth letter to Kappus mainly reiterates what he has already said about embracing difficulty, not turning away from challenging emotions, and practicing patience. If Kappus doubts himself, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, since he can further examine his doubt in useful ways. At the same time, though, Rilke’s overall implication is that Kappus should maintain a sense of self-assurance, allowing himself to interrogate whatever feeling or thought comes up. By showing a confident kind of patience, he will open up space for himself to wrestle with otherwise unsettling emotions.
Themes
