during these years, rossetti was prevailed upon by friends, in particular charles augustus howell, to exhume his poems from his wife's grave which he did, collating and publishing them in 1870 in the volume "poems by d. g. rossetti". they created controversy when they were attacked as the epitome of the "fleshly school of poetry". their eroticism and sensuality caused offence. one poem, "nuptial sleep", described a couple falling asleep after sex. it was part of rossetti's sonnet sequence "the house of life", a complex series of poems tracing the physical and spiritual development of an intimate relationship. rossetti described the sonnet form as a "moment's monument", implying that it sought to contain the feelings of a fleeting moment, and reflect on their meaning. "the house of life" was a series of interacting monuments to these moments – an elaborate whole made from a mosaic of intensely described fragments. it was rossetti's most substantial literary achievement. the collection included some translations, including his "ballad of dead ladies", an 1869 translation of françois villon's poem "ballade des dames du temps jadis". (the word "yesteryear" is credited to rossetti as a neologism used for the first time in this translation.)