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Sonnets

By Emily Pfeiffer: Revised and Enlarged Ed.
Pfeiffer, Emily (1827-1890)

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[section]
  
DEDICATION TO J. E. P.
  
ENVOY TO C. R. AND M. L.
  
THE PALMER LOVE.
  
ETNA.
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ASPIRATION.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
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LEARN OF THE DOG.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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THE LOST LIGHT.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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A PLEA.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
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HELLAS.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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SHELLEY.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
  
INVOCATION.
  
INVOCATION.
  
A REMINISCENCE.
  
THE JOY OF JOYS.
  
THE SORROW OF SORROWS.
  
TO THE MOURNERS OF LOVE.
  
WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT.
  
A WIND FROM OFF THE SEA.
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TO NATURE
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
  
PAST AND FUTURE.
  
BROKEN SPEECH.
  
TO THE BLIND ARCHITECT OF THE CITY OF LIFE
  
TO A MOTH THAT DRINKETH OF THE RIPE OCTOBER.
  
THE WINGED SOUL.
  
THE GOSPEL OF DREAD TIDINGS.
  
DREAMING.
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ON HEARING THE INTRODUCTION TO “LOHENGRIN.”
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
  
A CHRYSALIS.
  
THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT.
  
AN INVOCATION.
  
THE “STING OF DEATH.”
  
TO L. C. SMITH.
  
AMONG THE GLACIERS.
  
ON THE THUNER SEE.
  
THE HUNGER OF LIFE.
  
EVOLUTION.
  
LOVE AND JOY.
  
LOVE AND SORROW.
  
THE PRISONER IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE.
  
ON LOCH KATRINE.
  
AMONG THE HEBRIDES.
  
TO THE HERALD HONEYSUCKLE.
  
TO IMMORTAL MUSIC.
  
TRANSFIGURATION.
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TO THE FRIENDS OF LOVE.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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[subsection]
 I. 
I.FALLEN FROM GRACE.
 II. 
II.UNDER THE ROSE.
  
ON GUARD.
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[subsection]
 I. 
I.TO A FLEDGLING ROBIN.
 II. 
II.TO THE SAME, ON BEGINNING HIS SONG.
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STUDIES FROM THE ANTIQUE.
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KASSANDRA.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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KLYTEMNESTRA.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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TO DR. WILHELM JORDAN.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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[subsection]
 I. 
I.IN LOVE'S ECLIPSE.
 II. 
II.LOVE THE REVEALER.
  
A PARTNERSHIP.
  
TO E. BURNE JONES, ON HIS PICTURE OF THE ANNUNCIATION.
  
SUGGESTED BY THE PICTURE OF THE ANNUNCIATION, BY E. BURNE JONES.
  
KING COPHETUA AND THE BEGGAR MAID.
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[subsection]
 I. 
I.LOVE AND DEATH.
 II. 
II.LOVE AND LIFE.
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CAIN AND ABEL.
 I. 
I.CAIN AND ABEL.
 II. 
II.OUTCAST CAIN.
 III. 
III.CAIN REPENTANT.
  
HOPE.
  
DEAF.
  
MID-OCEAN.
  
NIAGARA.
  
BEATING THE AIR.
  
THE SOUDAN.
  
GORDON.
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A PROTEST.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
  
THE COMING DAY.
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[subsection]
 I. 
I.THE SOUL'S PRAYER.
 II. 
II.THE SOUL'S PRIDE.
  
WEARIHEAD.
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SIX 14-LINE POEMS.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
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[section]
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A SYMPHONY OF SONNETS. I. TO X.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
 VII. 
VII.
 VIII. 
VIII.
 IX. 
IX.
 X. 
X.

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32

IV.

If we be fools of chance, indeed, and tend
No whither, then the blinder fools in this:
That, loving good, we live, in scorn of bliss,
Its wageless servants to the evil end.
If, at the last, man's thirst for higher things
Be quenched in dust, the giver of his life,
Why press with growing zeal a hopeless strife,—
Why—born for creeping—should he dream of wings?
O Mother Dust! thou hast one law so mild
We call it sacred—all thy creatures own it—
The tie which binds the parent and the child,—
Why has man's loving heart alone outgrown it?
Why hast thou travailed so to be denied,
So trampled by a would-be matricide?
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