One flame-winged brought a white-winged harp-player
Even where my lady and I lay all alone;
Saying: Behold, this minstrel is unknown;
Bid him depart, for I am minstrel here:
Only my strains are to Love's dear ones dear.
Then said I: Through thine hautboy's rapturous tone
Unto my lady still this harp makes moan,
And still she deems the cadence deep and clear.
Then said my lady: Thou art Passion of Love,
And this Love's Worship: both he plights to me.
Thy mastering music walks the sunlit sea:
But where wan water trembles in the grove
And the wan moon is all the light thereof,
This harp still makes my name its voluntary.
Sonnet IX: Passion And Worship
written byDante Gabriel Rossetti
© Dante Gabriel Rossetti