"As these white robes are soil'd and dark, / To yonder shining ground; / As this pale taper's earthly spark, / To yonder argent round; / So shows my soul before the Lamb, / My spirit before Thee; / So in mine earthly house I am, / To that I hope to be."
— Tennyson, Alfred, first Baron Tennyson (1809-1892)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman
Date
1837
Metaphor
"As these white robes are soil'd and dark, / To yonder shining ground; / As this pale taper's earthly spark, / To yonder argent round; / So shows my soul before the Lamb, / My spirit before Thee; / So in mine earthly house I am, / To that I hope to be."
Metaphor in Context
As these white robes are soil'd and dark,
To yonder shining ground;
As this pale taper's earthly spark,
To yonder argent round;
So shows my soul before the Lamb,
My spirit before Thee;
So in mine earthly house I am,
To that I hope to be.
Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far,
Thro' all yon starlight keen,
Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star,
In raiment white and clean.
(ll. 13-24)
To yonder shining ground;
As this pale taper's earthly spark,
To yonder argent round;
So shows my soul before the Lamb,
My spirit before Thee;
So in mine earthly house I am,
To that I hope to be.
Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far,
Thro' all yon starlight keen,
Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star,
In raiment white and clean.
(ll. 13-24)
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
