John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882 John Bartlett
| 1 |
| The blessed damozel leaned out From the gold bar of Heaven: Her eyes were deeper than the depth Of waters stilled at even; She had three lilies in her hand, And the stars in her hair were seven. |
| The blessed Damozel. |
| 2 |
| And the souls mounting up to God Went by her like thin flames. |
| The blessed Damozel. |
| 3 |
| If God in his wisdom have brought close The day when I must die, That day by water or fire or air My feet shall fall in the destined snare Wherever my road may lie. |
| The King’s Tragedy. |
| 4 |
| I have been here before, But when or how I can not tell; I know the grass beyond the door, The sweet keen smell, The sighing sound, the lights around the shore. |
| Sudden Light. |
| 5 |
| Still we say as we go,— “Strange to think by the way Whatever there is to know, That shall we know one day.” |
| The Cloud Confines. |
| 6 |
| Gather a shell from the strewn beach And listen at its lips: 1 they sigh The same desire and mystery, The echo of the whole sea’s speech. |
| The Sea-Limits. |
| 7 |
| Look in my face: my name is Might-have-been; I am also called No-more, Too-late, Farewell. |
| Sonnet. A Superscription. |
| 8 |
| Was it a friend or foe that spread these lies? Nay, who but infants question in such wise, ’T was one of my most intimate enemies. |
| Fragment. |
| 9 |
| If the light is It is because God said ‘Let there be light.’ |
| At Sunrise. |
| 10 |
| Thou fill’st from the wingèd chalice of the soul Thy lamp, O Memory, fire-wingèd to its goal. |
| Mnemosyne. |
| Note 1. Charles Henry Webb: With a Nantucket Shell, page 793. [back] |