A VAIN SHADOW, by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTIPoet AnalysisPoet's Biography
First Line: The world, - what a world, ah me Last Line: As what is and passes away. Alternate Author Name(s): Alleyne, Ellen; Rossetti, Christina 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.