Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IN A CERTAIN PLACE by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI

Poet Analysis

First Line: I FOUND LOVE IN A CERTAIN PLACE
Last Line: OH SHOULD I KNOW HIM THEN?
Subject(s): DEATH; GRIEF; HEARTS; LOVE; PEACE; DEAD, THE; SORROW; SADNESS;

I found Love in a certain place
Asleep and cold -- or cold and dead? --
All ivory-white upon his bed
All ivory-white his face.
His hands were folded
On his quiet breast,
To his figure laid at rest
Chilly bed was moulded.

His hair hung lax about his brow,
I had not seen his face before;
Or if I saw it once, it wore
Another aspect now.
No trace of last night's sorrow,
No shadow of tomorrow;
All at peace (thus all sorrows cease),
All at peace.

I wondered: Were his eyes
Soft or falcon-clear?
I wondered: As he lies
Does he feel me near?
In silence my heart spoke
And wondered: If he woke
And found me sitting nigh him
And felt me sitting by him,
If life flushed to his cheek,
He living man with men,
Then if I heard him speak
Oh should I know him then?



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