Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FOR A MARRIAGE OF SAINT KATHERINE [OR, CATHERINE], by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FOR A MARRIAGE OF SAINT KATHERINE [OR, CATHERINE], by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Mystery: katherine [catherine] the bride of christ
Last Line: The light is starred in gems and the gold burns.
Alternate Author Name(s): Rossetti, Gabriel Charles Dante
Variant Title(s): Sonnets For Pictures: 2. A Marriage Of St. Katharine
Subject(s): Love - Marital; Marriage; Paintings & Painters; Wedded Love; Marriage - Love; Weddings; Husbands; Wives


(In the Hospital of St. John at Bruges)

MYSTERY: Katharine the bride of Christ.
She kneels, and on her hand the holy Child
Setteth the ring. Her life is sad and mild,
Laid in God's knowledge,--ever unenticed
From Him, and in the end thus fitly priced.
Awe, and the music that is near her, wrought
Of angels, hath possessed her eyes in thought:
Her utter joy is hers, and hath sufficed.

There is a pause while Mary Virgin turns
The leaf, and reads. With eyes on the spread book
That damsel at her knees reads after her.
John whom He loved, and John His harbinger,
Listen and watch. Whereon soe'er thou look,
The light is starred in gems and the gold burns.





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