Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1828–1882
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) was an English poet and painter of Italian descent, born in London, and a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. His sister was the poet Christina Rossetti.
His sonnet sequence The House of Life and poems such as “The Blessed Damozel” and “Sudden Light” combine sensuous imagery with spiritual longing. After the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal he buried his manuscripts with her; they were recovered and published as Poems in 1870.
Best-known poems
-
The Blessed Damozel
The blessed damozel leaned out
From the gold bar of Heaven;
Her eyes were deeper than the depth … -
Nuptial Sleep
At length their long kiss severed, with sweet smart:
And as the last slow sudden drops are shed
From sparkling eaves when all the storm has fled, … -
Silent Noon
Your hands lie open in the long fresh grass,--
...The finger-points look through like rosy blooms:
...Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms … -
The Blessèd Damozel
The blessèd Damozel lean'd out
From the gold bar of Heaven:
Her blue grave eyes were deeper much … -
The Sea-Limits
Consider the sea’s listless chime:
Time’s self it is, made audible—
The murmur of the earth’s own shell. … -
Sudden Light
I Have been here before,
But when or how I cannot tell:
I know the grass beyond the door, …
All poems (15)
- Eden bower (Dante Gabriel Rossetti)It was Lilith the wife of Adam:
- Nuptial SleepAt length their long kiss severed, with sweet smart:
- Severed SelvesTwo separate divided silences,
- Silent NoonYour hands lie open in the long fresh grass,--
- Sonnet 23: Love's BaublesI stood where Love in brimming armfuls bore
- Sudden LightI Have been here before,
- The Blessed DamozelThe blessed damozel leaned out
- The Blessed Damozel (Dante Gabriel Rossetti)The blessed damozel leaned out
- The Blessèd DamozelThe blessèd Damozel lean'd out
- The NevermoreLook in my face; my name is Might-have-been;
- The Sea-LimitsConsider the sea’s listless chime:
- The WoodspurgeThe wind flapped loose, the wind was still,
- Without HerWhat of her glass without her? The blank grey
- “When do I see thee most?”From “The House of Life”
