Letters to a young poet original title in german briefe an einen jungen dichter is a collection of ten letters written by bohemian austrian poet rainer maria rilke 1875 1926 to franz xaver kappus 1883 1966 a 19 year old officer cadet at the theresian military academy in wiener neustadt. Letters to a young poet is a very small book that allows us to enjoy the correspondence between a famous writer and an aspiring poet this exchange of letters began in 1903 thanks to a missive that franz xaver kappus sent to r m rilke and continued for many years until 1908 why is this little book important. In 1903 a student at a military academy sent some of his verses to a well known austrian poet requesting an assessment of their value the older artist rainer maria rilke 1875 1926 replied to the novice in this series of letters an amazing archive of remarkable insights into the ideas behind rilkes greatest poetry. Letters to a young poet sonnets to orpheus wartime letters of rainer maria rile translations from the poetry of rainer maria rilfe the lay of love and death of cornet christopher rilfye the notebooks of malte laurids brigge stories of god translated by stephen spender and j b leishman duino elegies translated by jane bannard greene and m d herter n orton letters of rainer maria ril