ecular and sensual illumination, he recreates that moment by detailing the things whose touch and sound make it so perfect" (Landow). The remainder of the poem follows this example.
Hush! Beyond all depth away
The heat lies silent at the brink of day:
Now the hand trails upon the viol-string
That sobs, and the brown faces cease to sing,
Sad with the whole of pleasure. Whither stray
Her eyes now, from whose mouth the slim pipes creep
And leave it pouting, while the shadowed grass
Is cool against her naked side? Let be: —
Say nothing now unto her lest she weep,
Nor name this ever. Be it as it was, —
Life touching lips with immortality.
After providing the reader with the quiet sounds of water, the speaker now enters into a moment of complete silence — "Hush! Beyond all depth away the heat lies silent at the brink of day." By using the words "brink" and "day," Rossetti continues to illustrate the transient nature of this moment. He uses "brink" in relation to "verge" to illustrate the fact that the moment is about to cease in existence and pass into another place in time, and provides "day" as an example of one of these moments that continually passes. Thus disturbing the silence and materializing the brink between two moments, "now the hand trails upon the viol-string that sobs, and the brown faces cease to sing." Rossetti sensually illuminates the reader with the beautiful sound of music, providing an example of a moment that creates a sense of sadness within the psyches of those involved. The sadness derives, however, from the bliss of the moment's beauty — "sad with the whole of pleasure" — because, while it is enjoyable, the pleasure serves as nothing but a reminder of the transient nature of all things beautiful.
In the sonnet, Rossetti suggests that the figures in Giorgione's painting do not remain conscious of their aesthetic condition. In addition, his portrayal of the woman dipping the water vessel emphasizes the characteristic Victorian gaze: "Whither stray her eyes now, from whose mouth the slim pipes creep and leave it pouting." The description "recalls, The Blessed Damozel whose emparadised state is transacted by a melancholy that arises because her lover is not with her" (Rossetti Archive). The Pre-Raphaelite woman then reclines in the shadowed grass, mourning for the loss of a moment so beautiful, and the speaker consequently instructs not to console her "lest she weep." Rossetti concludes the sonnet with a sententia regarding the nature of time and temporality: "Be it as it was, — life touching lips with immortality. " Such an illumination of the senses remains fleeting and cannot be preserved, and therefore acts as a reminder of the transience of all moments and all beings. However, Rossetti's creation of the sonnet itself serves as an ode to the moment, and he therefore finds a way to preserve it in its passing.
1. Transience was a subject that compelled Rossetti throughout his artistic career. In "Love and Hope", the forty-third sonnet of The House of Life, he desperately comments on the perfect moment and the loss of it through inevitable change.
Full many a withered year
Whirled past us, eddying to its chill doomsday;
And clasped together where the blown leaves lay,
We long have knelt and wept full many a tear.
Both "For a Venetian Pastorale" and "Love and Hope" utilize natural imagery and revolve around the same thematic structure. Why was the topic of temporality continually repeated throughout Rossetti's work? How does his use of natural imagery aid in expressing his concerns regarding time? Does the natural imagery in "The Woodspurge" (text) make any such connection to this theme?
2. Other Pre-Raphaelite works also discussed topics of time and transience. Compare "For a Venetian Pastoral" with Millais's Autumn Leaves. Is there a dichotomy between the written word and the painterly image? In what other ways did Pre-Raphaelite artists express their concerns regarding the passing of time? What societal influences could have shaped these concerns?
3. Many of the sonnets that Rossetti created for pictur