Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The House of Life. Sonnet 53. Without Her

What of her glass without her? The blank grey
There where the pool is blind of the moon's face.
Her dress without her? The tossed empty space
Of cloud-rack whence the moon has passed away.
Her paths without her? Day's appointed sway
Usurped by desolate night. Her pillowed place
Without her? Tears, ah me! for love's good grace,
And cold forgetfulness of night or day.

What of the heart without her? Nay, poor heart
Of thee what word remains ere speech be still?
A wayfarer by barren ways and chill,
Steep ways and weary, without her thou art,
Where the long cloud, the long wood's counterpart,
Sheds doubled darkness up the laboring hill.

1. At Issue
2. The House of Life. Sonnet 33. Venus Victrix
3. The House of Life. Sonnet 32. Equal Troth
4. The House of Life. Sonnet 27. Heart's Compass
5. To Thomas Woolner

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