Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian

Professor H. Salsich

English 02

16 September 2008

Inside is where it Counts:
A comparison between a Poem and a Quote.

TS: Rainer Maria Rilke and Hellen Keller’s thoughts are very much the same and that’s why I used Ms. Keller’s quote to relate to Mr. Rilke’s poem. SD: There have been a few ways that I’ve found these two pieces of writing connecting to each other. CM: They both connect by the comparable meaning of their words. CM: They also both connect by how they have been applied in life and how they even have the same number of sections to elucidate different points.

TS: Mr. Wilke’s poem has two passages that I have found to connect with Ms. Keller’s quote quite beautifully including a song by a famous pop star, Christina Aguilera. SD: “Don’t search for answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.” Says Mr. Rilke in his poem and surprisingly Ms. Keller’s quote does a very good job in summarizing this passage in very few words, she says “The best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen, not touched, but are felt in the heart.” CM: My interpretation of this is that Ms. Keller meant that you shouldn’t look for the important answers because they’re inside your heart, they’re inside you, they will always be inside you and when you look into yourself you’ll find them. CM: In the song “The Voice Within.” by Christina Aguilera, she sings “When there’s no one else, look inside yourself, like your oldest friend, just trust the voice within.” once again this reminds us that sometimes you can’t get the answers from people around you and you have to look inside yourself for the answers. CM: There are many instances in life like marriage, when people can’t really ask for advice from someone else in the end the final decision is up to them. SD: Sometimes though, the answers aren’t always clear like Mr. Rilke explains “You are so young and I would like to beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.” so we have to just live with them, and learn to love them, and accept that we don’t fully understand them. CM: Ms. Keller’s quote also confirms this because she states that “The best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen.” Even though these answers may not be the best and most beautiful things in life that certainly doesn’t mean they’re not hard to find. CM: Also just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there you just have to wait until the time is right for it to reveal itself. CS: Ms. Keller’s quote connects so well with Mr. Rilke’s poem because they both had similar confidence that what was inside a person was what was pure and may help them to understand why what’s inside them is so important.

TS: The poem and quote also relate to each other through me in a way. SD: In a way Mr. Rilke could be talking to me or someone my age because he uses the phrase “in your youth”, which indirectly involves me, and also even the poem’s name, Letters to a Young Poet, the word young is in the title. CM: I also have applied what Ms. Keller has said in my life when lacrosse season came around last year. CM: Some people close to me started to pressure me into trying out for lacrosse, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it and I already knew that I was fond of gymnastics so I asked myself, which one do I want to do? CM: I decided that I wanted to try out for gymnastics and I was proud that I made the decision myself and ended up loving the benefits of choosing what I wanted. SD: Both the poem and quote are also split into two main parts. CM: First Ms. Keller says what cannot happen to the “best and most beautiful things in life” For example she says they “cannot be seen, not touched” and then she explains what can happen to them “they can be felt in the heart”. CM: In addition to that Mr. Rilke also has this structure in his poem, first he talks about the young poet he’s referring to and trying to give some helpful advice to, and then he explains what could happen if you follow his advice. CS: Mr. Rilke’s poem and Ms. Keller’s quote relate even more than the similar meanings they share, they have been prepared in a similar way and they both have been used in someone else’s life.

TS: I feel that Mr. Rilke and Ms. Keller area very analogous pair. SD: It’s easy to find similarities between these two people’s way of thinking. CM: They have the same beliefs about things from inside you and how to solve answers by looking inside yourself. CM: They are both connected by more ways than just their thoughts.