No one can speak of
the beauty of solitude like Rainer Maria Rilke. In
Letters to a Young Poet, he creates
magical poetry in the artful form of a letter. As he writes these letters to an
unknown poet , his voice reaches out and touches
the reader's soul. He calls to the
loneliness within you and teaches you to
exult in it, and not to
hide from it. His message is one of
joy.
I don't want you to be without a greeting from me when Christmas comes and when
you, in the midst of the holiday, are bearing your solitude more heavily than usual. But
when you notice that it is vast, you should be happy; for what (you should ask
yourself) would a solitude be that was not vast; there is only one solitude, and it is
vast, heavy, difficult to bear, and almost everyone has hours when he would gladly
exchange it for any kind of sociability, however trivial or cheap, for the tiniest outward
agreement with the first person who comes along, the most unworthy. . . . But
perhaps these are the very hours during which solitude grows; for its growing is
painful as the growing of boys and sad as the beginning of spring. But that must not
confuse you. What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. To
walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours - that is what you must be able to
attain.
-Rainer Maria Rilke