Rainer Maria Rilke Diskussionforum

Hi!

I've got the following extract from a poem by Rilke:

No wind is favorable
for those who don't know where to go
but since we know where to go
also the breeze will be precious.

It should be from "Briefe an einen jungen Dichter", but I'm not sure about it :O Can anyone help me?

Thanks!

Eleonora.

Hello,

I suppose you'll find it as a quote by Michel de Montaigne: "No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.", or as a sentence Seneca wrote: "If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable."

Are you sure it's Rilke?

I'm not really sure about it either. I thought it was Rilke because I found this aphorysm in many Italian Aphorysm websites and they say it's by Rilke; then, I looked in other sites in French and English (and also something in German, but I can't understand German...) but I found no trace of this aphorysm.
In one Italian site I found it should be from "Briefe an einen jungen Dichter", but I don't know

Good morning Eleonora,

now I googeled "Lettere a un giovane poeta" + "Nessun vento è favorevole per chi non sa dove andare, ma per noi che sappiamo, anche la brezza sarà preziosa." - without any success!

And the quotation is nowhere attributed otherwise than with the mere name of Rainer Maria Rilke.

So sorry, I must assume I cannot help with your request.

I know...it's wierd !!
By the way, now, I've got a reason to read this book by Rilke That's the only way to check if the sentence is really by him Thanks for the help. Have a nice day

You'll not regret to read it; it's a treasure indeed! However the poem is not included, I know certainly.
In which translation will you read it?

In Italian and the translator is Leone Traverso. Maybe the sentence is inside one of the letters becuause I saw that Rilke often uses metaphors concerning nature to explain things

Leonora, don't dig for this aphorism with sort of gold-seeker's hope - then by these letters you'll gain innumerable bucketful of golden thoughts and feelings in your heart.
I'd mean to know every word in these letters very well - your poem isn't inside them.
Nevertheless - perhaps it's this booklet you're really looking for?

I don't know 'cause my thoughts are a bit confused about it

They aren't at all. Why do you call them confused? The task is to come to know where to go in life and fate. That was Kappus's main question.

Eleonora hat geschrieben: but since we know where to go

But, when will we know where to go? That is the theme Rilke unfolds in his letters.

Nevertheless - your poem is sourced elsewhere…

May you have enriching experiences while reading these letters - as if they were written for yourself!

Eleonora hat geschrieben:I don't know 'cause my thoughts are a bit confused about it

I meant I don't know where to look for because Rilke wrote a huge quantity of poems and ballads and reflections :O

By the way, what do you mean by:

Nevertheless - your poem is sourced elsewhere…

Oh, I must beg pardon for my "German" English - more than 40 years ago I've had training in school. I meant, the sources of your aphorism seem not to be at this part of Rilke's œuvre - if at all!

Good luck, Eleonora!

Thanks! Have a nice Sonntag!

Hello Eleonora,

did you already find the aphorism, elsewhere?

Good luck for you,
lilaloufan