Almost Over

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

General Description

Date: 1848
Genre: sonnet

Bibliography

◦ Paull F. Baum, Dante Gabriel Rossetti: An Analytical List of Manuscripts in the Duke University Library (1931), 14-16, 56-65

◦ Frances Winwar, “Dante Gabriel's or William Michael's? (March 1933), 312-315

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

Two texts of this sonnet come down to us: the one printed by WMR in his 1911 edition; and DGR's fair copy manuscript in the Tinker Collection at Yale. The two texts differ substantially, so that WMR must have had access to another, at present untraced, manuscript.

This is another of the bouts rimés sonnets that DGR and WMR wrote to rhymes they set for each other. The brothers played this verse game between 1847-1849, and principally in 1848. The rule was that the sonnet should be written quickly, in five to ten minutes (see 1911, pages 673-674 ).

Printing History

First published by WMR in his collected edition of 1911.

Electronic Archive Edition: 1
Source File: 18-1848.raw.xml