Art,Dante Rossetti

ART SUNDAY;
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI
1828 – 1882

A while ago I visited a friends page and one of her friends left this poem in the comments. I recognized the poem, but its not one of Rossetti’s better known poems so when I decided I would like to post it, I had to spend sometime chasing it around the net.  (thank you Bernard) And having spent a while ‘chasing Rossetti around the net’ I finished wanting to post a whole lot more than one poem. As you go through this, please click the pictures, you can see so much more detail
Most of the information here, apart from the actual poem, is from the

Rossetti archive site http://www.rossettiarchive.org/index.html

This is an endless treasure trove of information about Rossetti, the tiny amount  I have here is nothing compared to what you will find there, it’s  worth visiting.

The Poem
Sudden Light

 I HAVE been here before,
 But when or how I cannot tell:
 I know the grass beyond the door,
 The sweet keen smell,
The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

 You have been mine before,—
 How long ago I may not know:
 But just when at that swallow's soar
 Your neck turned so,
 Some veil did fall,—I knew it all of yore.

  Has this been thus before?
  And shall not thus time's eddying flight
  Still with our lives our love restore
  In death's despite,
  And day and night yield one delight once more?
 
Sudden Light was written in about 1853/4 and first published in 1863 in ‘’Poems: An Offering to Lancashire’’. It appeared with two distinctly different final stanzas, both of which can be found in the Doughty's edition The above version is the later one, as it appeared in the 1881 Poems.  A New Edition.
The older final stanza, as found in the 1870 edition of Poems, is:
         
Then, now,—perchance again! . . . .
O round mine eyes your tresses shake!
Shall we not lie as we have lain
Thus for Love's sake,
 And sleep, and wake, yet never break the chain?

In the 1870 text, Sudden Light appeared as Song IV (in addition to the title) along with fifty sonnets and ten other 'Songs' in a section titled: Sonnets and Songs towards a work to be called 'The House of Life'.

POEM  INFORMATION FROM

http://www.potw.org/archive/potw52.html
Rossetti was  painter, designer, writer, and translator who was, according to leading artists of the time ‘’the most important and original artistic force in the second half of the nineteenth century in Great Britain’’. Whistler called him ‘the King’ He was born and died in London, rarely travelled outside of London and only left the UK briefly on three occasions. His father, Gabriele Rossetti, (1783-1854), was a serious Dante scholar and Italian political exile, Rossetti grew up  bilingual with a love and admiration for many things Italian, including Dante.
In 1848 the Pre-Raphaelite movement was founded, Rossetti produced his first important painting while also working on a series of writings, including "The Blessed Damozel" and most of his Italian translations.
He published translations of famous works by Dante in 1861 as ‘’The Early Italian Poets’’. The book was revised and reissued in 1874 under the new title ‘’Dante and His Circle’’. He became the central figure in the formation of the group of writers and artists who were to name themselves ‘’The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’’. He seems to have known, and been known too, every notable artist of the time, and they all respected and admired him. He was apprenticed to Ford Madox Brown. He was friends and fellow ‘Pre-Raphaelite’’ with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. Rossetti and Ruskin became close friends and for a time Rossetti played the role of pupils to the older Ruskin.. Even Walter Pater had great respect for Rossetti. 
In 1850 he met Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862), their relationship was intense, they were both temperamental and prone to depression. Rossetti was besotted by this young model and drew her obsessively and compulsively, there were literally hundreds of small sketches by Rossetti of the lovely Lizzie.
Another good website is
http://lizziesiddal.com/portal/?page_id=737

This one is devoted to Lizzie Siddal wife of Rossetti and writer/ artist in her own right. Lizzie was discovered by the artist Walter Deverell who painted her as Viola in his depiction of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Lizzie went on to model for other Pre-Raphaelite artists and is most commonly recognized as Ophelia in the painting by John Everett Millais. Once introduced to Rossetti he fell madly, utterly and completely in love with her, he drew and painted her obsessively but also encouraged her in her own artwork and poetry. Their relationship was intense, they had a ten year engagement followed by a brief and terribly sad marriage. The couple suffered a stillborn child followed by a miscarriage. Lizzie was seriously addicted to Laudanum and died in 1862 due to an overdose. Rossetti, engulfed in romantic misery and overwhelmed by grief, buried the only manuscript of his poems with Lizzie. The manuscript apparently nestled in Lizzies famous long red hair. Seven years later, he had her coffin secretly exhumed in order to retrieve the poems for publication.  There is a myth regarding the exhumation that Lizzies hair was exactly as it had been at her burial, she remained beautiful and her body was uncorrupted. The poem ‘Sudden Light’ was written about Lizzie and was one of the poems to be buried with her. There were other beautiful models in the life of Rossetti, but he never remarried. Fanny Cornforth became Rossetti's principal model and then later it was Jane Morris.After the death of Lizzie he suffered with depression and hypochondria.  He  began to shut himself away.  He narrowed his social circle, stopped exhibiting, and began drinking to excess and taking drugs ( Chloral). By 1867 his health was deteriorating and he thought he was going blind. It was at this point he became addicted to chloral. Despite Rossetti’s frail health , he went on to produce some of his greatest artistic and literary works during this period. Rossetti's  brother William Michael called this last phase of Rossetti's life "the chloralized years". His health was broken and his mind tormented with guilt and regrets, Rossetti appeared to give up, he seemed to slowly die. After his last volumes were published he made two vain efforts to restore his health. He went to the Lake District in the fall of 1881 and later, on doctor's advice, went to stay with a friend at his country house in Birchington. He died while he was there.
One of my favourite Rossetti paintings is this one ‘’St. George and the Princess Sabra’’, it was painted by Rossetti in 1862. Lizzie died while modeling as Princess Sabra.  I find the pose so sad, she looks like a woman saying goodbye to the man she loves.  And the poem, ‘’Sudden Light’’ speaks the sadness seen in the painting. She  overdosed on laudanum as this was being painted, I wonder how he  managed to finish it.
Below, portrait of rossetti by George Watts
Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Sudden Light - Read by Charles Westbury

delete reply skaviva wrote on Jun 12, '11 I love Rossetti's paintings - I have seen probably the most famous; some were new to me here. I also love his sister's poem "A Birthday" - it is so perfect and every word is just where it should be. http://www.poetry-online.org/rossetti_christina_a_birthday.htm

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jun 12, '11 he painted such strong women and wrote such soft words :)

delete reply bjorbo wrote on Jun 12, '11 Lovely post! Nice to see so much romance and reverence. Thanks for the education! :-) http://bjorbo.multiply.com/journal/item/321/Art_Sunday_Gauguins_Day_of_God

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jun 12, '11 Lucky for us his poems were not lost. I'm sure being engaged for 10 years was not so common in those days. Rossetti is one of my favourites. You've done a great job, Loretta.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Jun 11, '11 Not an artist/poet I'm familiar with, but thanks for telling his story. As with many artists, it's seems sadness and tragedy have inspired their best work. The poem 'Sudden Light' is beautiful.