Yours ever sincerely,
William Sharp.
Eventually the Sonnets were written that satisfied his critic and were included in Hall Caine’s Anthology.
About this time also he was attempting a poem relating to an imaginary episode in the early life of Christ. To me it seemed a mistake, and I urged him to consult Mr. Rossetti, who replied as follows:
Thursday, Jan., 1880.
My dear Sharp,
I am quite unable to advise you on so abstruse a point. Strange to say, I can conceive no higher Ideal than the Christ we know; and I judge it to be very rash to lower in poetry (to the apprehension of many beautiful minds) that Ideal, by any assumption to decide a point respecting it which it is not possible to decide, whichever way belief or even conviction may tend.
I did not gather fully the relation of the Wandering Jew to your poem. If the very Jew in question, how is he to know of the development of humanity before his time? That he is a symbol of course I understand; but the balance between person and symbol should be clearly determined. I hope you may enjoy yourself in such good company, and am ever,
Sincerely yours,
D. G. Rossetti.