You who never arrived

About the poet

Rainer Maria Rilke is an Austrian poet and novelist. He mainly wrote in German and French. He became famous for his lyric poetry.

About the poem

• The poem ‘You Who Never Arrived’ depicts to us how nobody can meet his true soulmate in his entire life.

• It is written in a melancholy tone.

• The theme of the entire poem revolves around the poet’s longing to meet his beloved.

• It is written in free verse.

Substance

In the poem ‘You Who Never Arrived’, the poet talks about how his beloved is often close yet far away. He expresses a desire to meet his Beloved but has accepted that his wish will remain unfulfilled. The poet laments how his Beloved is lost from the start and says that he has given up trying to recognize her in the surging wave of the next moment. The poet feels the presence of his beloved everywhere -in nature, in material, and in the spiritual world, but he can never meet her as she always escapes. He laments by thinking how his beloved might have stepped out of the country house to meet him but then decided otherwise. He feels she is close to him but has accepted that his wish to meet his beloved will remain unfulfilled. The poet constantly feels a sense of longing and the poem captures it perfectly.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In “You Who Never Arrived”, the poet had given up trying to recognize –– (a) himself  (b)his ‘Beloved’  (c)powerful lands  (d)bird

 2.“You, beloved, who are all the gardens I have ever gazed at”,  This line carries–– (a)metaphor   (b)simile   (c)personification    (d)synecdoche

In “You Who Never Arrived”, the poet compares his beloved with––- (a)beauty (b)horror (c)imprisoned birds   (d)An open window in a country house

 4. The same bird echoed through ––– (a)everyone   (b)the entire world    (c) the poet and his beloved  (d) the poet

 5. The tone of the poem “You Who Never Arrived” is ––– (a)motivating  (b)melancholy  (c)sad  (d)haughty

“you almost stepped out, pensive, to meet me”. What is the meaning of the word ‘pensive’? -(a) sad (b) enjoy  (c)curious  (d)insane

Rainer Maria Rilke was an –(a) American poet (b)Austrian poet (c)Italian poet (d)Irish poet

8. The poet does not know his beloved’s choice of – (a)poems (b)song (c)books (d)garden

9. Rainer Maria Rilke expresses his ideas with a/an –(a)melancholy note (b)joyful note (c)enthusiasm (d)optimistic note

10. In remembrance of the beloved the poet gazes  at the  -(a)gardens (b)houses (c)fields (d)trees

11. The word ‘elude’ means- (a)escape (b)sad (c)joy (d)calm

12. Rilke is one of the finest lyric poets in the __________ language.-(a) Kannada (b) French (c)Spanish (d) German

13. Rilke’s too-sudden image was given back by the ________ in a shop. –(a)mirrors (b)copy (c)imagination (d)house

14. When did the same bird echo through both the poet and his beloved?- (a)Yesterday, in the evening today, (b)in the morning (c)ever (d)Never

Who was pensive?- (a) The bird (b)The poet (c) The mirrors (d)The poet’s beloved

A. Answer the following in a complete sentence.

1. Why did the poet not try to recognize his beloved?

Ans: The poet was continuously trying to catch his beloved on all occasions, but could not meet her. So he stopped trying to look for her in the ever-changing times.

2. Who was still dizzy and why?

Ans: The mirrors in the shop were still dizzy as they reflected the presence of the poet’s beloved.

3. What did the poet feel in a shop?

Ans: When the poet was in the shop, he noticed the mirrors and realized that the mirrors viewed his beloved before reflecting his image. His reflection appeared too sudden, too abrupt, like it did not belong alone but was complete with his beloved who had again vanished even after coming tantalizing close.

4. To Whom did the poet compare his beloved?

Ans: The poet compared his beloved with all the gardens that he had gazed at with longing, but had never been able to own them.

5. Why did the poet’s beloved not arrive in his arms?

Ans: The poet’s beloved did not arrive in his arms because she was lost from the start.

6. To whom is the poem “You Who Never Arrived” addressed?

Ans: The poem “You Who Never Arrived” is addressed to his beloved.

7. What had the poet’s beloved almost done?

Ans: The poet’s beloved walked down the streets the poet chanced upon.

8. What were the immense images?

Ans: The immense images were the far-off, deeply felt landscapes, cities, towers, and bridges, the unsuspected turns in the path, and the powerful lands of God.

9. When did the poet’s beloved look pensive?

Ans: After trying to meet his beloved on all occasions, the poet could not meet his beloved. The poet realized that his beloved did the same and her inability to meet the poet made her look pensive.

10. What has the poet given up trying in the poem “You Who Never Arrived”?

Ans: The poet has given up trying to recognize his beloved in the poem “You who never arrived”.

B. Do as directed:

1. You who never arrived in my arms. (Replace the underlined word with a phrasal verb)

Ans: You who never came on in my arms.

2. I have given up trying to recognize you in the surging wave of the next moment. (Change to past simple tense)

Ans: I gave up trying to recognize you in the surging wave of the next moment.

3. I don’t even know what songs would please you. (Change the voice)

Ans: You would be pleased by what songs are not known to me.

4. You had just walked down them. (Change the voice)

Ans: They had just been walked down by you.

5. All rise within me to mean you, who forever elude me. (Split into two sentences)

Ans: All rise within me to mean you. You forever elude me.

6. Perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us. (Replace the underlined word with a phrasal verb)

Ans: Perhaps the same bird bounced back through both of us.

7. You, beloved, who are all the gardens I have gazed at, longing. (Split into two sentences)

Ans: I have gazed at gardens, longing. You, beloved are all the gardens.

8. Who knows? ( Change the voice) 

Ans: By whom is it known?

                  Exercise

A. Answer the following in a complete sentence:

1. Which is the most famous prose work of Rainer Maria Rilke?

2. Give the meaning of the word ‘elude’.

3. How does Rilke effectively depict his unfulfilled desire?

4. How are ‘mirrors’ personified in the poem?

5. How did the poet analogize his beloved with the gardens?

B. Answer the following in 80 words:

1. Give a summary of the poem “You who never arrived”.

2. How does the poet describe his beloved in the poem “You who never arrived”? What does the poet mean by “those powerful lands”?

3. What did the poet not know about his beloved? Why did he think that his beloved was lost from the start?

4. Which images were risen in the poet’s mind to mean his beloved? 

5. What did the poet realize when he chanced upon the streets? Why did the poet’s beloved step out?

6. Which were still dizzy with the presence of the poet’s beloved? What did it give back to the poet?

7. Explore the mood of the poem “You who never arrived”.

8. The poem “You Who Never Arrived” is about the unreciprocated love of the beloved for the speaker. Justify the statement.

Word-Meaning:

♦immense-great, ♦pulsing-throbbing,♦ elude-escape,♦ a country house-a large house in the country, ♦stepped out-left, ♦pensive-thoughtful or sad, ♦chanced upon-happened to be upon, ♦dizzy-mentally confused, ♦longing- desire for something, ♦startled-surprised, ♦echoed-being repeated after the original sound has stopped