{"id":855,"date":"2012-10-04T19:54:53","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T18:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/verityholloway.com\/?p=855"},"modified":"2012-10-04T19:54:53","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T18:54:53","slug":"855","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/?p=855","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

As it’s National Poetry Day, I’d like to share my favourite Dante Gabriel Rossetti poem. (Besides the one rhyming ‘wombat’ with ‘flings a bomb at’, lest we forget).<\/p>\n

Sudden Light<\/em> was written in 1854, when life was relatively good\u00a0for Rossetti. This was the period when he and Lizzie Siddal\u00a0were holidaying in Hastings together, and the romantic optimism of the poem makes it a lovely window into that time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sudden Light<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been here before,<\/em>
\n But when or how I cannot tell:<\/em>
\n I know the grass beyond the door,<\/em>
\n The sweet keen smell,<\/em>
\n The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.<\/em><\/p>\n

You have been mine before,\u2014<\/em>
\n How long ago I may not know:<\/em>
\n But just when at that swallow’s soar<\/em>
\n Your neck turned so,<\/em>
\n Some veil did fall,\u2014I knew it all of yore.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then, now,\u2014perchance again! . . .<\/em>
\n O round mine eyes your tresses shake!<\/em>
\n Shall we not lie as we have lain<\/em>
\n Thus for Love’s sake,<\/em>
\n And sleep, and wake, yet never break the chain?<\/em><\/p>\n

There are two versions, with differing final stanzas. This is the earlier of the two – the other was published some time after Siddal’s death, with a more melancholy slant. I prefer the first, but make up your own mind.<\/p>\n

Has this been thus before?\u00a0<\/em>
\nAnd shall not thus time’s eddying flight<\/em>
\nStill with our lives our love restore<\/em>
\nIn death’s despite,\u00a0<\/em>
\nAnd day and night yield one delight once more?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As it’s National Poetry Day, I’d like to share my favourite Dante Gabriel Rossetti poem. (Besides the one rhyming ‘wombat’ with ‘flings a bomb at’, lest we forget). Sudden Light was written in 1854, when life was relatively good\u00a0for Rossetti. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11,7],"class_list":["post-855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-poetry","tag-rossetti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":885,"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions\/885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verityholloway.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}