English Poetry at the Poetry Monster. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Poem The House of Life. Sonnet 48. Death-in-Love.

Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The House of Life. Sonnet 48. Death-in-Love

There came an image in Life's retinue
That had Love's wings and bore his gonfalon:
Fair was the web, and nobly wrought thereon,
O soul-sequestered face, thy form and hue!
Bewildering sounds, such as Spring wakens to,
Shook in its folds; and through my heart its power
Sped trackless as the immemorable hour
When birth's dark portal groaned and all was new.

But a veiled woman followed, and she caught
The banner round its staff, to furl and cling,--
Then plucked a feather from the bearer's wing,
And held it to his lips that stirred it not,
And said to me, "Behold, there is no breath:
I and this Love are one, and I am Death."

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s other poems:

1. The House of Life. Sonnet 17. Beauty’s Pageant
2. The House of Life. Sonnet 50. Willowwood – 2
3. The Staff and Scrip
4. The House of Life. Sonnet 35. The Lamp’s Shrine
5. The House of Life. Sonnet 92. The Sun’s Shame – 1

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