A sonnet is a moment's monument, -- <br />Memorial from the Soul's eternity <br />To one dead deathless hour. Look that it be, <br />Whether for lustral rite or dire portent, <br />Of its own arduous fulness reverent: <br />Carve it in ivory or in ebony, <br />As Day or Night may rule; and let Time see <br />Its flowering crest impearled and orient. <br /> <br />A Sonnet is a coin: its face reveals <br />The soul, -- its converse, to what Power 'tis due: -- <br />Whether for tribute to the august appeals <br />Of Life, or dower in Love's high retinue, <br />It serve, or, 'mid the dark wharf's cavernous breath, <br />In Charon's palm it pay the toll of Death.<br /><br />Dante Gabriel Rossetti<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-sonnet/
