Chapter 4 4. The second letter

Please forgive me, dear and respected sir, I have not thought of your letter of February 24th with gratitude until today: I am very distressed at this time, not a disease, but an influenza-like debilitation that bothers me what to do There is no strength in anything.In the end, this phenomenon did not change at all, and I came to the southern seaside where I was once recuperated.But I haven't recovered yet, and writing is still difficult, so you have to accept this short message instead of my more thoughts. You must know, of course, that every letter of yours always pleases me, but you must forgive my answer, which may not help you; We are nameless and lonely; if one can advise or even help others, many things must be realized and completed between each other, and everything must have a complete arrangement before it can be effective once.

I just want to tell you two things today: The first is the "Ironie": you don't let it rule you, especially in moments of poor creativity.You can try it out when creativity is abundant, as a way to make sense of life.Used purely, it is pure, and need not be ashamed of it; and if you feel that you are too intimate with it, and are afraid of increasing intimacy with it, then turn to great and solemn things, and before them it become small and pathetic.Seeking the depths of things: in the depths, irony cannot go on——if you bring it close to the edge of greatness, you should immediately consider whether this way of understanding (black irony) is a need from your nature .For under the influence of serious things (if it happens by accident), it will leave you (if it is really yours by nature), and it will become a serious instrument, and it will be included in some of the ways you make art. in the ranks.

The second thing I want to tell you today is this: Of all my books there are only a few that I can never leave, and two books are in my bag wherever I go.They are also with me at the moment: one is the Bible, the other is the book of the great Danish poet Ince Peter Jakobsen.It suddenly occurred to me that I wonder if you have read his works.This is easy to buy as there are some good translations published in the Reclam universal library.You go and buy his Six Short Stories and his novel Niels Lyhne.You read the first chapter of the previous volume, "Mogens".A world is about to unfold before you, a world of bliss, abundance, unfathomable greatness.Please experience some of these two books and learn what you think is worth learning, but the most important thing is that you have to love them.This love will reap thousands of rewards for you, and, whatever course your life takes, - I am sure it will run through the silken threads of your growth, in all the threads of your experiences, disappointments and joys. becomes the most important one.

If I should say from whom I have experienced something about the nature of creation and its profundity and its eternal significance, I can only name two: one is Jakobsen, the great poet; Auguste Rodin, the sculptor unparalleled among living artists. I wish you all success in your future! Yours: Rene Maria Rilke 1903, 4, 5; Italy, Pisa, Viareggio ①Jens Peter Jacobsen (Jens Peter Jacobsen, 1847-1885), Danish novelist, poet, author of novels, short stories, poems, essays, etc. ②Auguste Rodin (Auguste Rodin, 1840-1917), French sculptor, Rilke went to Paris in 1902, visited Rodin, and served as Rodin's secretary for a short time in 1906.