bout to enter the german military. his name was franz kappus, he was 19 years old, and he wrote rilke looking for guidance and a critique of some of his poems. rilke was himself only 27 when the first letter was written. the resulting five year correspondence is a virtual owner's manual on what it is (and what is required) to be an artist and a person.

　　letter one

　　paris

　　february 17, 1903

　　dear sir,

　　your letter arrived just a few days ago. i want to thank you for the great confidence you have placed in me. that is all i can do. i cannot discuss your verses; for any attempt at criticism would be foreign to me. nothing touches a work of art so little as words of criticism: they always result in more or less fortunate misunderstandings. things aren't all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered, and more unsay ab

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