Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828–82

From “The House of Life: a Sonnet-Sequence.” I. Introductory

RossetDG

A SONNET is a moment’s monument,—

Memorial from the Soul’s eternity

To one dead, deathless hour. Look that it be,

Whether for lustral rite or dire portent,

Of its own arduous fulness reverent:

Carve it in ivory or in ebony,

As Day or Night may rule; and let Time see

Its flowering crest impearl’d and orient.

A Sonnet is a coin: its face reveals

The soul,—its converse, to what power ’t is due:—

Whether for tribute to the august appeals

Of Life, or dower in Love’s high retinue,

It serve; or, ’mid the dark wharf’s cavernous breath,

In Charon’s palm it pay the toll to Death.