| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
| |
| From “The House of Life: a Sonnet-Sequence.” VIII. A Superscription |
| | | Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–82) |
| |
| |
| LOOK in my face; my name is Might-have-been; | |
| I am also call’d No-more, Too-late, Farewell; | |
| Unto thine ear I hold the dead-sea shell | |
| Cast up thy Life’s foam-fretted feet between; | |
| Unto thine eyes the glass where that is seen | 5 |
| Which had Life’s form and Love’s, but by my spell | |
| Is now a shaken shadow intolerable, | |
| Of ultimate things unutter’d the frail screen. | |
| Mark me, how still I am! But should there dart | |
| One moment through thy soul the soft surprise | 10 |
| Of that wing’d Peace which lulls the breath of sighs,— | |
| Then shalt thou see me smile, and turn apart | |
| Thy visage to mine ambush at thy heart | |
| Sleepless with cold commemorative eyes. | |
| |
|
|
|
