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 impearl'd 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 to Death.<br /><br />Dante Gabriel Rossetti<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/from-the-house-of-life-the-sonnet/
