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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AT THE GRAVE OF DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI by H. T. MACKENZIE BELL

First Line: HERE OF A TRUTH THE WORLD'S EXTREMES ARE
Last Line: FOND LOVE'S REGRET THAT NE'ER THEY SAW HIS FACE.
Subject(s): GRAVES; ROSSETTI, DANTE GABRIEL (1828-1882); TOMBS; TOMBSTONES;

HERE of a truth the world's extremes are met:
Amid the gray, the moss-grown tombs of those
Who led long lives obscure till came the close
When, their calm days being done, their suns were set --
Here stands a grave, all monumentless yet,
Wrapped like the others in a deep repose;
But while you wakeful ocean ebbs and flows
It is a grave the world shall not forget,
This grave on which meek violets grow and thyme,
Summer's fair heralds; and a stranger now
Pauses to see a poet's resting-place,
But one of those who will in many a clime
On each return of this sad day avow
Fond love's regret that ne'er they saw his face.



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