A Prayer

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

General Description

Date: 1846
Rhyme: a3b3c4b3d4b3
Meter: iambic
Genre: lyric

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

Except for the arresting line 6, the poem is completely undistinguished— a work that could not be set apart from any of dozens of similarly accomplished poems published in the periodicals and gift books of the day.

Textual History: Composition

Three early manuscripts survive: the Bancroft corrected copy (a partial copy); the fair copy with corrections in the Ashley Library; and the fair copy in the library of Duke University, from which the Ashley Library manuscript was revised.

Printing History

The poem was first published by WMR in his 1911 edition of the Works. WMR used the corrected Ashley Library copy as his copy text.

Electronic Archive Edition: 1
Source File: 2-1846.raw.xml