Sonnet IV on Dante's Divine Comedy by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

See the sender's note for more information!

Sender’s note: Hello all, Flynn here. Thanks for making it to the end, especially if you were with us from the start :) As I said a couple of months ago, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to continue the newsletter for its next intended cycle, but I hope to do so. In the meantime, in the Project Gutenberg text for Longfellow’s translation of the Comedy, the Appendix hosts six sonnets on the Comedy written by Longfellow. I thought it would be apt to send these out after we finished our rounds. Please enjoy!

---

SIX SONNETS ON DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
(1807-1882)

IV

With snow-white veil, and garments as of flame,
    She stands before thee, who so long ago
    Filled thy young heart with passion and the woe
    From which thy song in all its splendors came;
And while with stern rebuke she speaks thy name,
    The ice about thy heart melts as the snow
    On mountain heights, and in swift overflow
    Comes gushing from thy lips in sobs of shame.
Thou makest full confession; and a gleam
    As of the dawn on some dark forest cast,
    Seems on thy lifted forehead to increase;
Lethe and Eunoe—the remembered dream
    And the forgotten sorrow—bring at last
    That perfect pardon which is perfect peace.