Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The House of Life. Sonnet 10. The Portrait

O Lord of all compassionate control,
O Love! let this my lady's picture glow
Under my hand to praise her name, and show
Even of her inner self the perfect whole:
That he who seeks her beauty's furthest goal,
Beyond the light that the sweet glances throw
And refluent wave of the sweet smile, may know
The very sky and sea-line of her soul.

Lo! it is done. Above the long lithe throat
The mouth's mould testifies of voice and kiss
The shadowed eyes remember and foresee.
Her face is made her shrine. Let all men note
That in all years (O Love, thy gift is this!)
They that would look on her must come to me.

1. The House of Life. Sonnet 20. Gracious Moonlight
2. Last Sonnets at Paris
3. To Thomas Woolner
4. The House of Life. Sonnet 81. Memorial Thresholds
5. At Issue

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