Vestal Heart
after Dante Gabriel Rossetti
In gilded twilight where the sanguine sun dips low into the horizon’s fiery bosom, a lone figure stands, vested in contemplation, with heart aflame, as if the very essence of devotion had taken hold, transfixing the soul with an unyielding ardor, that will not cease until the final, fatal breath.
And thus, in this, her darkest, most solemn hour, the vestal’s thoughts are filled with visions of a bygone age, when valorous knights and ladies fair didst stride, with honor as their guide, and love their heart’s desire, their footsteps echoing through the corridors of time, leaving naught but memories, and a longing that will not subside, for in the silence, the heart doth hear a mournful sigh, that whispers forth a single, haunting word: oblivion.
I drew from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's use of formal, ornate diction and his fondness for medieval and Renaissance themes, as well as his characteristic shift from beauty to decay. His musical syntax and emphasis on assonance and consonance also influenced the poem's rhythm and flow.