Others 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.
Rainer Maria Rilke
(tr. Jessie Lamont)