Vanity of Vanities
A sinking heart laments pleasure that ends in sorrow and past glory that brings no gain. It will repeat its lament until an angel’s blast shakes the heavens; old, strong, and young people alike are pictured weighed down by weariness.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Sonnet, Meditative Poetry, Religious Poetry · 165 words
First lines
Sonnet.
Ah, woe is me for pleasure that is vain, / Ah, woe is me for glory that is past: / Pleasure that bringeth sorrow at the last, / Glory that at the last bringeth no gain! / So saith the sinking heart; and so again / It shall say till the mighty angel-blast / Is blown, making the sun and moon aghast, / And showering down the stars like sudden rain. / And evermore men shall go fearfully, / Bending beneath their weight of heaviness; / And ancient men shall lie down wearily, / And strong men shall rise up in weariness; / Yea, even the young shall answer sighingly, / Saying one to another: How vain it is!
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines move from the heart’s lament over pleasure and glory to the weariness of people of different ages.
- Meditative Poetry — The heart weighs pleasure’s eventual sorrow and glory’s lack of lasting gain, extending its lament to old and young.
- Religious Poetry — An anticipated angel’s blast terrifies the sun and moon and sends the stars falling, marking the horizon of the heart’s repeated lament.
Tags
sonnet · vain pleasure · past glory · weariness · apocalyptic imagery
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Vanity of Vanities is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Sonnet, Meditative Poetry, Religious Poetry
- Length: 165 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for Vanity of Vanities by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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