Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Height in Depth

HE turned his face apart, and gave a sigh
And a strange whimper—such a pitiful thing
As haunts the heart for days. “Yes, Love can bring
Unto a pass so low that it seems high:
And, when we see a brave and strong man cry
With a poor infant's feeble sorrowing,
It is a nobler passion than to wing
Shafts of small angers and small prides,” thought I.
There is a love so deaf that it can hear
Not even its own voice which bids it seek
A name for its own meanness: it would find
The outlet else. But thus it is a sheer
Humility—an earnestness so meek
That your knees bow and sharp tears make you blind. 

1. The House of Life. Sonnet 82. Hoarded Joy
2. Returning To Brussels
3. The House of Life. Sonnet 80. From Dawn to Noon
4. The House of Life. Sonnet 85. Vain Virtues
5. The House of Life. Sonnet 81. Memorial Thresholds

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