Madonna Mia
Madonna Mia - meaning Summary
Adoring Yet Fearful Worship
The speaker idealizes a young woman as an almost supernatural purity—delicate, pale, and sorrowful—whose beauty inspires profound reverence rather than desire. He admires her constantly but feels too awed and unworthy to approach her intimately, not even to kiss her feet. He frames his response as devotional awe by invoking Dante and Beatrice, suggesting spiritual or poetic admiration that separates worship from physical possession.
Read Complete AnalysesA LILY-GIRL, not made for this world's pain, With brown, soft hair close braided by her ears, And longing eyes half veiled by slumberous tears Like bluest water seen through mists of rain: Pale cheeks whereon no love hath left its stain, Red underlip drawn in for fear of love, And white throat, whiter than the silvered dove, Through whose wan marble creeps one purple vein. Yet, though my lips shall praise her without cease, Even to kiss her feet I am not bold, Being o'ershadowed by the wings of awe. Like Dante, when he stood with Beatrice Beneath the flaming Lion's breast, and saw The seventh Crystal, and the Stair of Gold.
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