Maidens I
Maidens I - meaning Summary
Innocence Opens Dream-doors
Rilke contrasts those who must seek out poetic vision with maidens who naturally enter the realm of dream and song. The maidens’ unselfconscious smiles and open doors offer an unmediated passage to imagination and the wider world. The poem suggests that receptivity and simplicity create direct access to poetic truth, portraying innocence as a luminous, effortless bridge to transcendence rather than a learned achievement.
Read Complete AnalysesOthers must by a long dark way Stray to the mystic bards, Or ask some one who has heard them sing Or touch the magic chords. Only the maidens question not The bridges that lead to Dream; Their luminous smiles are like strands of pearls On a silver vase agleam. The maidens' doors of Life lead out Where the song of the poet soars, And out beyond to the great world— To the world beyond the doors.
Translated by Jessie Lamont
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