Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WE ARE ALL WORKMEN, by RAINER MARIA RILKE Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: We are all workmen: prentice, journeyman Last Line: God, you are vast. Subject(s): Labor & Laborers; Work; Workers | ||||||||
We are all workmen: prentice, journeyman, or master,building you, you lofty nave. Sometimes an earnest traveler comes to scan our labor, whose help is a wind to fan our souls, as sunlight on the architrave. Upon the rocking scaffolding we rise, the hammers in our hands swing heavily, until a gracious hour hither flies, whose radiance is wonderful and wise, hailing from you as wind hails from the sea. Then many hammers echo south and north, and on the heights their throb is like a blast. Only with dusk we yield you up at last: And see your shaping contours shadowed forth. God, you are vast. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFTER WORKING SIXTY HOURS AGAIN FOR WHAT REASON by HICOK. BOB DAY JOB AND NIGHT JOB by ANDREW HUDGINS BIXBY'S LANDING by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON BUILDING WITH STONE by ROBINSON JEFFERS LINES FROM A PLUTOCRATIC POETASTER TO A DITCH-DIGGER by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS IN CALIFORNIA: MORNING, EVENING, LATE JANUARY by DENISE LEVERTOV |
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