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  • Published: 15 December 2001
  • ISBN: 9780679642329
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $32.99

Letters to a Young Poet




46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946

Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet are arguably the most famous and beloved letters of the twentieth century. Written when the poet was himself still a young man, with most of his greatest work before him, they were addressed to a student who had sent Rilke some of his own writing, asking for advice on becoming a writer. The two never met, but over a period of several years Rilke wrote him these ten letters, which have been cherished by hundreds of thousands of readers for what Stephen Mitchell calls in his Foreword the "vibrant and deeply felt experience of life" that informs them. Eloquent and personal, Rilke’s meditations on the creative process, the nature of love, the wisdom of children, and the importance of solitude offer a wealth of spiritual and practical guidance for anyone. At the same time, this collection, in Stephen Mitchell’s definitive translation, reveals the thoughts and feelings of one of the greatest poets and most distinctive sensibilities of the twentieth century.

  • Published: 15 December 2001
  • ISBN: 9780679642329
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $32.99

Other books in the series

On Sparta
Love
Annals
Military Dispatches

About the author

RAINER MARIA RILKE

RAINER MARIA RILKE (1875-1926) is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. His works include Duino Elegies, The Sonnets to Orpheus, and Letters to a Young Poet.

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