After the French Liberation of Italy (William Sharp fair copy)Dante Gabriel Rossetti1Used with permission of Princeton University. From the Princeton
University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. All rights
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Princeton University Library.After the French Liberation of ItalyDante Gabriel Rossetti1881 (circa)fair copy1 pageWilliam SharpPrinceton University Library23270
Commentary
Introduction
The manuscript is a contemporary copy, possibly in William Sharp's hand, of
the sonnet. The congruence of this text with the surviving proof texts (and
not with the surviving author's
holograph in the Ashley Library) shows the source of this manuscript
copy.
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After the French Liberation of ItalyAs When the last of the paid joys of loveHas come & gone; & with a single kissAt length, and with one laugh of satiate bliss,The wearied man a minute rests aboveThe wearied woman, no more urged to moveIn those long throes of longing; till they glide,Now lightlier clasped, each to the other's side,In joys past acting, not past dreaming of: —So Europe now beneath this paramourLies for a little out of use, —full oftSubmissive to his lust, a loveless whore.He wakes, she sleeps, the breath falls slow & soft.Wait: the bought body holds a birth within,An harlot's child, to scourge her for her sin.D.G.R. 1859