Three Shadows

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



I LOOKED and saw your eyes
In the shadow of your hair,
As a traveller sees the stream
In the shadow of the wood;
And I said, “My faint heart sighs,
Ah me! to linger there,
To drink deep and to dream
In that sweet solitude.”
I looked and saw your heart
In the shadow of your eyes,
As a seeker sees the gold
In the shadow of the stream;
And I said, “Ah me! what art
Should win the immortal prize,
Whose want must make life cold
And Heaven a hollow dream?”
I looked and saw your love
In the shadow of your heart,
As a diver sees the pearl
In the shadow of the sea;
And I murmured, not above
My breath, but all apart,—
“Ah! you can love, true girl,
And is your love for me?”

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
114

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDABCEFAGCFAGCHFIJHFIJ
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 690
Words 145
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 24

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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