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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LATER LIFE: A DOUBLE SONNET OF SONNETS, 23 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI

Poet Analysis

First Line: BEYOND THE SEAS WE KNOW, STRETCH SEAS UNKNOWN
Last Line: AND STILL WE PEER BEYOND WITH CRAVING FACE.

Beyond the seas we know, stretch seas unknown
Blue and bright-coloured for our dim and green;
Beyond the lands we see, stretch lands unseen
With many-tinted tangle overgrown;
And icebound seas there are like seas of stone,
Serenely stormless as death lies serene;
And lifeless tracts of sand, which intervene
Betwixt the lands where living flowers are blown.
This dead and living world befits our case
Who live and die: we live in wearied hope,
We die in hope not dead; we run a race
Today, and find no present halting-place;
All things we see lie far within our scope,
And still we peer beyond with craving face.



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