"Make Thou my spirit pure and clear / As are the frosty skies, / Or this first snowdrop of the year / That in my bosom lies."
— Tennyson, Alfred, first Baron Tennyson (1809-1892)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman
Date
1837
Metaphor
"Make Thou my spirit pure and clear / As are the frosty skies, / Or this first snowdrop of the year / That in my bosom lies."
Metaphor in Context
Deep on the convent-roof the snows
Are sparkling to the moon:
My breath to heaven like vapour goes;
May my soul follow soon!
The shadows of the convent-towers
Slant down the snowy sward,
Still creeping with the creeping hours
That lead me to my Lord:
Make Thou my spirit pure and clear
As are the frosty skies,
Or this first snowdrop of the year
That in my bosom lies.
(ll. 1-12)
Are sparkling to the moon:
My breath to heaven like vapour goes;
May my soul follow soon!
The shadows of the convent-towers
Slant down the snowy sward,
Still creeping with the creeping hours
That lead me to my Lord:
Make Thou my spirit pure and clear
As are the frosty skies,
Or this first snowdrop of the year
That in my bosom lies.
(ll. 1-12)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Tennyson, Alfred. "St. Agnes' Eve." The Keepsake. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, 1837. Revised in Alfred lord Tennyson, Poems. 2 vols. Boston: W. D. Ticknor, 1842. Alfred lord Tennyson, Works. London: Macmillan, 1891. <Link to RPO>
Date of Entry
01/07/2010
