Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume II. Love. 1904. | | | | VI. Lovers | | “When do I see thee most?” | | Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) |
| | From “The House of Life”
WHEN do I see thee most, belovèd one? | |
| When in the light the spirits of mine eyes | |
| Before thy face, their altar, solemnize | |
| The worship of that Love through thee made known? | |
| Or when, in the dusk hours (we two alone), | 5 |
| Close-kissed, and eloquent of still replies | |
| Thy twilight-hidden glimmering visage lies, | |
| And my soul only sees thy soul its own? | |
| O love, my love! if I no more should see | |
| Thyself, nor on the earth the shadow of thee, | 10 |
| Nor image of thine eyes in any spring,— | |
| How then should sound upon Life’s darkening slope | |
| The ground-whirl of the perished leaves of Hope, | |
| The wind of Death’s imperishable wing! | | | | |
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