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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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41

ON HEARING THE INTRODUCTION TO “LOHENGRIN.”

I.

THOSE fine-drawn stringèd notes so inly smite,
It is as if the bows of sprites could strain
The sensitive nerve-fibres of the brain,
And tune them to an all too keen delight.
And still as they resound they gather might,
Seeming a new-born pulse of life to gain
With each new bar, until the beating rain,
The deluge of quick sound, is at its height.
Then all our soul is drowned as in a sea
Of glad sensation, and we faintly seek
Some continent for boundless ecstasy:
In vain;—we are but carried down the wake
Of Time, to throb awhile primevally
With the young World in passion's blind outbreak.
42

II.

Is this the music that the wise presage
As of the “Future”?—this that storms and seeks
To force each door of sense, and loudest speaks
Through organs that grow less from age to age?
Alas! its human burthens so engage
The human soul, that not for us there breaks,
Wave-like, as on a life that first awakes
The careless joy of Nature's infant stage.
We think, we toil, we hope, we love, we die,
We know and would foreknow, we doubt and fear;
Till 'neath thy spell, O Wagner! we put by
“Future” and Present too, and drawing near
The base of life, thy breath, like the wild sigh
Of some Æonian Past, steals on the ear!
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