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1828–1882

HEART'S COMPASS

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Sometimes thou seem'st not as thyself alone, But as the meaning of all things that are; A breathless wonder, shadowing forth afar Some heavenly solstice hushed and halcyon;

Whose unstirred lips are music's visible tone; Whose eyes the sun-gate of the soul unbar, Being of its furthest fires oracular;— The evident heart of all life sown and mown.

Even such Love is; and is not thy name Love? Yea, by thy hand the Love-god rends apart All gathering clouds of Night's ambiguous art; Flings them far down, and sets thine eyes above;

And simply, as some gage of flower or glove, Stakes with a smile the world against thy heart.

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HEART'S COMPASS · Dante Gabriel Rossetti · Poetry Cove