A collection of correspondence between Rainer Maria Rilke, Boris Pasternak and Marina Tsvetayeva. Published for the first time in English, these 49 letters examine their thought and work, the nature of inspiration and the creative process, and how poets influence each other. In 1925, Leonid Pasternak wrote a letter to Rilke congratualting him on his 50th birthday and renewing a friendship that had been dormant for 20 years. In his letter Pasternak mentioned that his son Boris, who had already gained literary fame in Russia, was a great admirer of Rilke. Even before he had published his own verse, Boris Pasternak had begun to translate Rilke's poems into Russian and to read some of his poems. Pasternak and Tsvetayeva shared a love of German culture and literature, and of Rilke in particular, with his German Romaniticism and grasp of Russian symbolism. In a letter to Rilke, Boris Pasternak recommended the work of his friend Marina Tsvetayeva, suggesting that Rilke might want to initiate his own correspondence with her. Thus began the friendship between the two young Russian writers with their German idol, communicating only by letter. Boris Pasternak is the author of Dr Zhivago. This book was first published by Jonathan Cape.