I am scraping the bottom of the barrel here:

A SONNET

A Sonnet is a moment's monument,-
Memorial from the Soul's eternity
To one dead deathless hour. Look that it be,
Whether for lustral rite ro dire portent,
Of its own ardous fullness reverent:
Carve it in ivory or in ebony,
As Day or Night may rule; and let Time see
Its flowering crest impearled and orient.

A Sonnet is a coin: its face reveals
The soul--its converse, to what Power 'tis due:
Whether for tribute to the august appeals
Of Life, or dower in Love's high retinue.
It serve; or, 'mid the dark wharf's cavernous breath,
In Charon's palm it pay the toll to Death.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti
(1828-1882)




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