Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Poets and Years
- List of Poets and Volumes
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Suggested Further Reading
- Changing Times
- Textual Notes 1836–1850
- 1836
- 1837
- 1838
- 1839
- 1840
- 1841
- 1842
- 1843
- 1844
- 1845
- 1846
- 1847
- 1848
- 1849
- 1850
- Sources – Volume I
- Index of Poets and Sonnet Titles – Volume I
- Index of Poets and Sonnet First Lines – Volume I
- Index of Sonnet Titles – Volume I
- Index of Sonnet First Lines – Volume I
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Poets and Years
- List of Poets and Volumes
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Suggested Further Reading
- Changing Times
- Textual Notes 1836–1850
- 1836
- 1837
- 1838
- 1839
- 1840
- 1841
- 1842
- 1843
- 1844
- 1845
- 1846
- 1847
- 1848
- 1849
- 1850
- Sources – Volume I
- Index of Poets and Sonnet Titles – Volume I
- Index of Poets and Sonnet First Lines – Volume I
- Index of Sonnet Titles – Volume I
- Index of Sonnet First Lines – Volume I
Summary
Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)
[See also 1848, 1849, 1850, 1853, 1855, 1856, 1862, 1866, 1869, 1870, 1875, 1881, 1882, 1890, 1893 and 1896]
Lady Isabella
They knelt in silent anguish by her bed,
And could not weep; but calmly there she lay;
All pain had left her; and the sun's last ray
Shone through upon her, warming into red
The shady curtains. In her heart she said:
“Heaven opens; I leave these and go away;
The bridegroom calls,—shall the bride seek to stay?”
Then low upon her breast she bowed her head.
O lily flower, O gem of priceless worth,
O dove with patient voice and patient eyes,
O fruitful vine amid a land of dearth,
O maid replete with loving purities,
Thou bowedst down thy head with friends on earth
To raise it with the saints in Paradise.
(Written 1847; privately printed 1847)
[In 1866 the above sonnet was re-titled and published as ‘A Portrait II’. The sonnet, ‘Saint Elizabeth of Hungary’, 1850, became ‘A Portrait I’.]
Vanity of Vanities
“Ah woe is me for pleasure that is vain!
“Ah woe is me for glory that is past!
“Pleasure that bringeth sorrow at the last;
“Glory that at the last bringeth no gain!”
So saith the sinking heart; and so again
It shall say till the mighty angel-blast
Soundeth, making the sun and moon aghast
And showering down the stars like sudden rain. […]
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Anthem Anthology of Victorian Sonnets , pp. 168 - 205Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2011