Insomnia

Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828 (London) – 1882 (Birchington-on-Sea)



Thin are the night-skirts left behind
         By daybreak hours that onward creep,
         And thin, alas! the shred of sleep
     That wavers with the spirit's wind:
     But in half-dreams that shift and roll
         And still remember and forget,
     My soul this hour has drawn your soul
             A little nearer yet.

     Our lives, most dear, are never near,
       Our thoughts are never far apart,
       Though all that draws us heart to heart
   Seems fainter now and now more clear.
   To-night Love claims his full control,
       And with desire and with regret
   My soul this hour has drawn your soul
           A little nearer yet.

   Is there a home where heavy earth
       Melts to bright air that breathes no pain,
       Where water leaves no thirst again
   And springing fire is Love's new birth?
   If faith long bound to one true goal
       May there at length its hope beget,
   My soul that hour shall draw your soul
           For ever nearer yet.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
118

Quick analysis:

Scheme abbacdCD effecdCD gxxgcdcd
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 969
Words 158
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. more…

All Dante Gabriel Rossetti poems | Dante Gabriel Rossetti Books

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