"rilke?s Letters To A Young Poet" -a Review By A.j.rao
(Rainer Maria Rilke)
The second in the series of ten letters
The letters to a young poet by Rainer Maria Rilke is an excellent autobiographical document a reading of which, apart from its own intrinsic merit, facilitates a clearer understanding of Rilke?s poetic vision and craft.
The second letter of Rilke to the young poet deals with the use of irony as a poetic technique. His advice is not to use it too much especially in uncreative moments . The modern poets used irony extensively and it was considered an essential part of the poetic technique the poet could not do without. Irony meant a clearly stated world ?view based upon mistrust of the existing system .The rhythms of poetry were therefore largely drawn from a judgmental perception in the context of the socio- political turbulences of the time.
The modern poets who came much later use irony extensively to make their poetic statements. A classic example is T.S.Eliot?s The Waste Land. Eliot effectively uses irony to describe the post-war despondency drawing from the rich resources of Christian as well as Oriental myths. Myths represent the collective conscious of humankind and provide extremely effective symbols useful in any form of art for the creation of irony.
Rilke?s poetry marks an important departure from the poetic tradition of the time in that he advocated a genre of poetry which meant a straightforward poetic statement:
??So rescue yourself from these general themes and write about what your everyday life offers you; describe your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of beauty - describe all these with heartfelt, silent, humble sincerity and, when you express yourself, use the Things around you, the images from your dreams, and the objects that you remember??(Letters to a Young Poet ?The First)
Rilke has of course not entirely ruled out the use of irony in poetry. He only warned the young poet against the use of irony in uncreative moments. Poetry then degenerates to an intellectual game, a game of poetical one-upmanship, which alienates the reader from the poet?s world of intensely personal experiences- ?emotions recollected in tranquility?.
Resumos Relacionados
- A Commentary By A.j.rao On "letters To A Young Poet"(first In The Series) By Rainer Maria Rilke
- A Commentary By A.j.rao On "letters To A Young Poet"(first In The Series) By Rainer Maria Rilke
- Letters To A Young Poet
- Preface To The Lyrical Ballads
- Drawing Out The Poet Within
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