Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A VAIN SHADOW by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE WORLD, - WHAT A WORLD, AH ME
Last Line: AS WHAT IS AND PASSES AWAY.
Subject(s): EARTH; VANITY;
THE world, -- what a world, ah me!
Mouldy, worm-eaten, grey:
Vain as a leaf from a tree,
As a fading day,
As veriest vanity,
As the froth and the spray
Of the hollow-billowed sea,
As what was and shall not be,
As what is and passes away.



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