Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A DEATH-PARTING by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

Poet Analysis

First Line: LEAVES AND RAIN AND THE DAYS OF THE YEAR
Last Line: (WITH A WIND BLOWN NIGHT AND DAY.)
Subject(s): DEATH; DEAD, THE;
LEAVES and rain and the days of the year,
(Water-willow and wellaway,)
All these fall, and my soul gives ear,
And she is hence who once was here.
(With a wind blown night and day.)

Ah! but now, for a secret sign,
(The willow's wan and the water white,)
In the held breath of the day's decline
Her very face seemed pressed to mine.
(With a wind blown day and night.)

O love, of my death my life is fain;
(The willows wave on the water-way,)
Your cheek and mine are cold in the rain,
But warm they'll be when we meet again.
(With a wind blown night and day.)

Mists are heaved and cover the sky;
(The willows wail in the waning light,)
O loose your lips, leave space for a sigh,--
They seal my soul, I cannot die.
(With a wind blown day and night.)

Leaves and rain and the days of the year,
(Water-willow and wellaway,)
All still fall, and I still give ear,
And she is hence, and I am here.
(With a wind blown night and day.)



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