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THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 35. THE LAMP'S SHRINE by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

Poet Analysis

First Line: SOMETIMES I FAIN WOULD FIND IN THEE SOME FAULT
Last Line: MY HEART TAKES PRIDE TO SHOW HOW POOR IT IS.
Subject(s): LOVE;

SOMETIMES I fain would find in thee some fault,
That I might love thee still in spite of it:
Yet how should our Lord Love curtail one whit
Thy perfect praise whom most he would exalt?
Alas! he can but make my heart's low vault
Even in men's sight unworthier, being lit
By thee, who thereby show'st more exquisite
Like fiery chrysoprase in deep basalt.

Yet will I nowise shrink; but at Love's shrine
Myself within the beams his brow doth dart
Will set the flashing jewel of thy heart
In that dull chamber where it deigns to shine:
For lo! in honour of thine excellencies
My heart takes pride to show how poor it is.



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