Section 7 Summary and Analysis

Letter 9 - "Furubork, Jonsered, in Sweden, November 4, 1904" In this brief letter, Rilke urges the Young Poet to be patient, and to trust in the process of life, since life, Rilke suggests, "is always right." He answers the Young Poet's specific questions about how to deal with doubt by suggesting that he learn to use doubt, its questions and its uncertainties, as a guide and a tool for further exploration. He also refers to the way feelings can be an important guide and tool, suggesting that anything that intensifies feeling (anything, that is, other than intoxication or muddiness) is ultimately good for the artist's soul, and then concludes the letter with a reference to the copy of one of his own poems he is enclosing. In the poem, Rilke writes, he speaks further of "life and death and of how both are...