Sonnet XCVIII: He and I

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



Whence came his feet into my field, and why?
How is it that he sees it all so drear?
How do I see his seeing, and how hear
The name his bitter silence knows it by?
This was the little fold of separate sky
Whose pasturing clouds in the soul's atmosphere
Drew living light from one continual year:
How should he find it lifeless? He, or I?
Lo! this new Self now wanders round my field,
With plaints for every flower, and for each tree
A moan, the sighing wind's auxiliary:
And o'er sweet waters of my life, that yield
Unto his lips no draught but tears unseal'd,
Even in my place he weeps. Even I, not he.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
58

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACBBCCD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 598
Words 120
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

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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