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The House of Life
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
78 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1870
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About the author
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
479听books93听followersBritish poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, brother of Christina Georgina Rossetti, founded the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, a society, in England in 1848 to advance the style and spirit of Italian painting before Raphael (Raffaelo Sanzio); his known portraits and his vividly detailed, mystic poems, include "The Blessed Damozel" (1850).
This illustrator and translator with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais later mainly inspired and influenced a second generation of artists and writers, most notably William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. His work also influenced the Symbolists, a group of chiefly French writers and artists, who of the late 1800s rejected realism and used symbols to evoke ideas and emotions. He served as a major precursor of Aestheticism, an artistic and intellectual movement or the doctrine, originating in Britain in the late 19th century, that from beauty, the basic principle, derives all other, especially moral, principles.
This illustrator and translator with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais later mainly inspired and influenced a second generation of artists and writers, most notably William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. His work also influenced the Symbolists, a group of chiefly French writers and artists, who of the late 1800s rejected realism and used symbols to evoke ideas and emotions. He served as a major precursor of Aestheticism, an artistic and intellectual movement or the doctrine, originating in Britain in the late 19th century, that from beauty, the basic principle, derives all other, especially moral, principles.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 29, 2007
I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of poetry. But having said that, this collection of sonnets from Dante Gabriel Rosetti was an enjoyable read. Poems range from the very innocent to the incredibly intimate in content, but what I liked the most was the language used. It's easy to get lost in these words, and that's not a wholly unpleasant experience.
June 15, 2015
Rossetti's paintings are out of this world. In his poetry he goes even further by describing intimate relationships. The sensuality was beautiful and it's easy to understand why the poems were controversial (a couple falls asleep after sex etc.), but in the end the purpleness and the excessive praise for love and beauty proved to be too much. Even in small doses.
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October 14, 2012Alcuni versi che mi hanno ricordato il passato...
"Ti amo, cara: e come potrai tu mai capire / quanto ti amo?" "In pari grado io ti amo, / ecco come lo so." "Cara, non puoi sapere / quanto tu sia bella." "Se bella tanto da guadagnare / il tuo amore, il mio amore null'altro chiede." / "Il mio amore cresce a ogni ora, cara." "E anche il mio, / pur se da tempo gi脿 mi sembrava colmo!" / Cos矛 gli amanti, finch茅 arrivi il turno dei baci.
O felici, quelli cui parole come queste / Furono linguaggio, in giovent霉, tutto il giorno, / ora dopo ora, via dalla ressa del mondo, / da lavoro, lotte, gloria, dai mille assalli del vivere, / mentre amore alitava, in sospiri e silenzi, / attraverso due anime unite, un estatico controcanto.
"Ti amo, cara: e come potrai tu mai capire / quanto ti amo?" "In pari grado io ti amo, / ecco come lo so." "Cara, non puoi sapere / quanto tu sia bella." "Se bella tanto da guadagnare / il tuo amore, il mio amore null'altro chiede." / "Il mio amore cresce a ogni ora, cara." "E anche il mio, / pur se da tempo gi脿 mi sembrava colmo!" / Cos矛 gli amanti, finch茅 arrivi il turno dei baci.
O felici, quelli cui parole come queste / Furono linguaggio, in giovent霉, tutto il giorno, / ora dopo ora, via dalla ressa del mondo, / da lavoro, lotte, gloria, dai mille assalli del vivere, / mentre amore alitava, in sospiri e silenzi, / attraverso due anime unite, un estatico controcanto.
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March 15, 2025The best quality of Dante Gabriel Rossett鈥檚 sonnet sequence 鈥淭he House of Life鈥� isn鈥檛 its philosophical orientation but rather the musicality of its language. Like the paintings reproduced in the Cotswold Willow edition, the poems are driven by their own lush aesthetic, and while I tend to prefer the paintings, the verses are lovely in their way, and that鈥檚 enough for me.
September 2, 2019
Gabriel's miscellany lacks the lyricism of his sister's Christina and the strength of his wife's Lizzie Siddal
March 17, 2017
袩芯褝蟹懈褟 袪芯褋褋械褌褌懈 锌芯谢薪邪 屑懈褋褌懈泻懈 懈 褋懈屑胁芯谢懈蟹屑邪. 效褍胁褋褌胁械薪薪褘泄, 褉芯屑邪薪褌懈褔械褋泻懈泄 褋谢芯谐 锌褉懈 褋谢芯卸薪芯屑, 蟹邪屑褘褋谢芯胁邪褌芯屑 褋懈薪褌邪泻褋懈褋械. 携蟹褘泄, 斜芯谐邪褌褘泄 芯锌懈褋邪薪懈褟屑懈 屑邪谢械泄褕懈褏 写械褌邪谢械泄, 懈 褍蟹薪邪胁邪械屑邪褟 屑械谢芯写懈泻邪 褋褌懈褏邪 - 胁褋械 褝褌芯 褟褉泻芯 褏邪褉邪泻褌械褉懈蟹褍械褌 邪胁褌芯褉邪.
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March 7, 2013I would caution anyone seeking an edition of 'The House of Life' not to buy from this company. Typographical errors abound in the paperback edition, and I find it hard to believe a text could have gone to print so littered with misplaced punctuation, bizarre spelling errors and a constant misuse of 'ruth' for truth' after even a glance from a proofreader.
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January 30, 2015I saw Corpse Bride right after I read this sonnet sequence, so Burton's film is entangled with Rossetti's dead lady imagery in my mind. Also, this book inspired a couple sonnets of my own--helped me grow as a poet.
February 13, 2009
read this in college and its luminosity still stirs me. Hard ot find copies, so I am always looking!
May 26, 2013
With eyes where burning memory lights love home?
September 21, 2014
He's a little purple sometimes, but my god, the man can write a hell of a sonnet.
February 16, 2014
An amazing sonnet sequence. Deep, haunting and beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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