It was in February of 1903 that a young literary hopeful by the name of Franz Xaver Kappus reached out to not-yet-esteemed poet Rainer Maria Rilke in search of criticism and career advice. In what seems like an effort to cast him aside, Rilke refused to give Kappus criticism and advised him to instead search internally in order to truly reach poetic esteem. Whether or not Rilke initially wanted to take Kappus under his wing, he had acquired a new pen pal.
That letter was the first of many to deliver Rilke’s ideas on topics such as Nature, creativity, sexuality, and solitude and how the artist utilizes them to create true masterpieces as well as find his or her place in society. It is no secret that Rilke seems to love talking about the “Innermost Self”. After all, he never fails to mention it by name at least once a letter. But what exactly is the Innermost Self? And why is it so important to Rilke? Well, he believed that his true craft, art, came from the innermost self. In his first letter, Rilke expresses that in order to write, “No one can advise or help you–no one.
There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself… then come close to Nature” (Rilke 6). Another piece of advice Rilke offers the young poet is that “the creator must be a world for himself and must find everything in himself and in Nature, to whom his whole life is devoted” (Rilke 10). By expressing his beliefs, the experienced writer is suggesting that true art and creativity come from what he calls the Inner Self, which must be the human soul, for what other part of a human is so durable that it transcends the test of time and is as spiritual as the art itself other than the soul?
Harold Bloom, Author of How to Read and Why, expresses that there are certain “phantoms” of reading. One such phantom is the “Death of the Author” (Bloom 28), which implies that the piece surpasses the barriers of its time, and remains appreciated and valued for hundreds of years, way after it’s author has passed. essentially, the only way that art can exceed time differences is if it comes directly from the self. Rilke also offers one other recurring piece of advice: “Trust in what is difficult” Shortly after he introduces this new thought, he uses it to reinforce his main theme of solitude, “For solitude is difficult”.
He then also backed up his sexuality theories with it by proclaiming that love is difficult as well. he describes it as “the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation” (Rilke 68). However, if this were the truth, than what would that make art and consequently, the artist? How could art be a preparation for love, the ultimate compromise, when the artist itself is doomed to a life of creative solitude in order to truly get to know their Innermost Self? It is all contradictory.
In later letters, Rilke branches out from solely writing advice to some questionable guidelines on life in general that are his two most prevalent themes: solitude and sexuality; namely that the two are almost dependent on each other. Throughout all ten of his letters, Rilke explains to Kappus how he needs to shut himself off from civilization in a cabin, and learn to have sex “not as opposites but as brother and sister, as neighbors, and will unite as human beings, in order to bear in common, simply, earnestly, and patiently, the heavy sex that has that has been laid upon them” (Rilke 41).
The key point here is that in quite a bit of mythology, the act of sex, especially the way Rilke describes is a physical and even spiritual joining of two souls. Therefore, sexuality, the way one wishes to join souls with another, is a facet of the soul. To further prove this point, Rilke explains to Kappus that it “may someday be possible for many people”, but the solitary man has a head start because he “can now, already prepare and build with his own hands, which make fewer mistakes” (Rilke 41). It is spelled out here that solitude is what builds the foundation and is the main ingredient in cultivating exuality, a piece of the soul.
In any case, It is from these niches: creativity, Nature, and sexuality, that make up the soul and define “humanity”, and the way to cultivate such aspects is, according to Rilke, through solitude and rigorous self-examination. What is more, the only way that true, transcendent art can be manifested and understood is if it originates from these facets of the soul, therefore it is the artist’s responsibility to delve deeply into his or her soul at whatever cost in order to create, not only for him or her, but for the rest of humanity.