Fragments
THE wounded hart and the dying swan
Were side by side
Where the rushes coil with the turn of the tide—
The hart and the swan.
AS much as in a hundred years, she's dead:
Yet is to-day the day on which she died.
“I SAW the Sibyl at Cumæ”
(One said) “with mine own eye.
She hung in a cage, and read her rune
To all the passers-by.
Said the boys, ‘What wouldst thou, Sibyl?’
She answered, ‘I would die.’”
AS balmy as the breath of her you love
When deep between her breasts it comes to you.
“WAS it a friend or foe that spread these lies?”
“Nay, who but infants question in such wise?
'Twas one of my most intimate enemies.”
IF I could die like the British Queen
Who faced the Roman war,
Or hang in a cage for my country's sake
Like Black Bess of Dunbar!
SHE bound her green sleeve on my helm,
Sweet pledge of love's sweet meed:
Warm was her bared arm round my neck
As well she bade me speed;
And her kiss clings still between my lips,
Heart's beat and strength at need.
WHERE is the man whose soul has never waked
To sudden pity of the poor torn past?
AT her step the water-hen
Springs from her nook, and skimming the clear stream,
Ripples its waters in a sinuous curve,
And dives again in safety.
WOULD God I knew there were a God to thank
When thanks rise in me!
I SHUT myself in with my soul,
And the shapes come eddying forth.
“I HATE” says over and above
[...] Read more
poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
