Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Here you will find the Poem An Altar-Flame of poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti

An Altar-Flame

EVEN as when utter summer makes the grain 
Bow heavily along through the whole land 
It seems to me whatever while I stand 
Where thou art standing; and upon my brain 
Thy presence weighs like a most awful strain 
Of music, heard in some cathedral fanned 
With the deep breath of prayer, while the priest's hand 
Uplifts the solemn sign which shall remain 
After the world. Thy beauty perfecteth 
A noble calmness in me; it doth send 
Through my weak heart to my strong mind a rule 
Of life that they shall keep till shut of death: 
Death?an arched path too long to see the end, 
But which hath shadows that seem pure and cool.