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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNETS FOR PICTURES: 6. ANGELICA RESCUED FROM THE SEA-MONSTERS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

Poet Analysis

First Line: CLENCH THINE EYES NOW, -- 'TIS THE LAST INSTANT, GIRL
Last Line: AGAIN A WOMAN IN HER NAKEDNESS.
Subject(s): INGRES, JEAN AUGUSTE D. (1780-1867); PAINTINGS AND PAINTERS;

Clench thine eyes now, -- 'tis the last instant, girl:
Draw in thy senses, set thy knees, and take
One breath for all: thy life is keen awake, --
Thou may'st not swoon. Was that the scattered whirl
Of its foam drenched thee? -- or the waves that curl
And split, bleak spray wherein thy temples ache? --
Or was it his the champion's blood to flake
Thy flesh? -- Or thine own blood's anointing, girl? ...
... Now, silence; for the sea's is such a sound
As irks not silence; and except the sea,
All is now still. Now the dead thing doth cease
To writhe, and drifts. He turns to her: and she
Cast from the jaws of Death, remains there, bound,
Again a woman in her nakedness.



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