Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

During Music

O COOL unto the sense of pain
That last night's sleep could not destroy;
O warm unto the sense of joy,
That dreams its life within the brain.
What though I lean o'er thee to scan
The written music cramped and stiff;—
'Tis dark to me, as hieroglyph
On those weird bulks Egyptian.
But as from those, dumb now and strange,
A glory wanders on the earth,
Even so thy tones can call a birth
From these, to shake my soul with change.
O swift, as in melodious haste
Float o'er the keys thy fingers small;
O soft, as is the rise and fall
Which stirs that shade within thy breast. 

1. The House of Life. Sonnet 90. «Retro Me, Sathana!»
2. Johannes Ronge
3. At Issue
4. Ashore at Dover
5. The House of Life. Sonnet 9. Passion and Worship

Print

1917 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version