At the Fall of the Leaf

—Anonymous Photo

AUTUMN SONG
—Dante Gabriel Rosetti, 1828-1882
 
Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the heart feels a languid grief
Laid on it for a covering,
And how sleep seems a goodly thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

And how the swift beat of the brain
Falters because it is in vain,
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf
Knowest thou not? and how the chief
Of joys seems—not to suffer pain?

Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the soul feels like a dried sheaf
Bound up at length for harvesting,
And how death seems a comely thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

___________________

For more about Dante Rosetti, go to www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/dante-gabriel-rossetti/.

And here’s a LittleNip by him:

ASPECTA MEDUSA (for a Drawing)
—Dante Gabriel Rosetti

Andromeda, by Perseus sav'd and wed,
Hanker'd each day to see the Gorgon's head:
Till o'er a fount he held it, bade her lean,
And mirror'd in the wave was safely seen
That death she liv'd by.

                                Let not thine eyes know
Any forbidden thing itself, although
It once should save as well as kill: but be
Its shadow upon life enough for thee.

__________________

—Medusa

 Cactus Medusa
—Photo by Katy Brown, Davis, CA

(Celebrate Poetry!)

Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.