How many seconds in a minute?Sixty, and no more in it. How many minutes in an hour?Sixty for sun and shower. How many hours in a day?Twenty-four for work and…
Posts published in “Christina Rossetti Poems”
Weary and weak,–accept my weariness; Weary and weak and downcast in my soul,With hope growing less and less, And with the goalDistant and dim,–accept my sore distress.I thought to reach the goal…
Is the moon tired? she looks so paleWithin her misty veil:She scales the sky from east to west,And takes no rest. Before the coming of the nightThe moon shows papery…
An emerald is as green as grass; A ruby red as blood;A sapphire shines as blue as heaven; A flint lies in the mud. A diamond is a brilliant stone, To catch the…
January cold desolate;February all dripping wet;March wind ranges;April changes;Birds sing in tuneTo flowers of May,And sunny JuneBrings longest day;In scorched JulyThe storm-clouds flyLightning torn;August bears corn,September fruit;In rough OctoberEarth must…
O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the east: Shine, be increased;O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the west: Wane, be at rest.
A garden in a garden: a green spot Where all is green: most fitting slumber-place For the strong man grown weary of a raceSoon over. Unto him a goodly lotHath fallen in…
Our Mothers, lovely women pitiful; Our Sisters, gracious in their life and death; To us each unforgotten memory saith:“Learn as we learned in life’s sufficient school,Work as we worked in patience of…
There is one that has a head without an eye, And there’s one that has an eye without a head:You may find the answer if you try;;;;;And when all is said,;;Half…
Roses on a brier, Pearls from out the bitter sea,Such is earth’s desire;;However pure it be. Neither bud nor brier,;;Neither pearl nor brine for me:Be stilled, my long desire;;;There shall be…
I sigh at day-dawn, and I sighWhen the dull day is passing by.I sigh at evening, and againI sigh when night brings sleep to men.Oh! it were far better to dieThan…
(1674.) I have desired, and I have been desired; But now the days are over of desire, Now dust and dying embers mock my fire;Where is the hire for which my life…
O roses for the flush of youth, And laurel for the perfect prime;But pluck an ivy branch for me Grown old before my time. O violets for the grave of youth, And bay…
Two doves upon the selfsame branch, Two lilies on a single stem,Two butterflies upon one flower:– O happy they who look on them. Who look upon them hand in hand Flushed in the…
Winter is cold-hearted, Spring is yea and nay,Autumn is a weathercock Blown every way:Summer days for me When every leaf is on its tree; When Robin’s not a beggar,;;And Jenny Wren’s a bride,And…
The half moon shows a face of plaintive sweetness Ready and poised to wax or wane;A fire of pale desire in incompleteness, Tending to pleasure or to pain:–Lo, while we gaze she…
Give me the lowest place: not that I dare Ask for that lowest place, but Thou hast diedThat I might live and share Thy glory by Thy side. Give me the lowest…
PERSONIFICATIONS. Boys. Girls. January. February. March. April. July. May. August. June. October. September. December. November. Robin Redbreasts; Lambs and Sheep; Nightingale and Nestlings. Various Flowers, Fruits, etc. Scene: A Cottage with its Grounds. [A room in a large comfortable cottage; a…
The peacock has a score of eyes, With which he cannot see;The cod-fish has a silent sound, However that may be; No dandelions tell the time, Although they turn to clocks;Cat’s-cradle does not…
The lily has a smooth stalk, Will never hurt your hand;But the rose upon her brier Is lady of the land. There’s sweetness in an apple tree,;;And profit in the corn;But lady…
“Sweet, thou art pale.” “More pale to see,Christ hung upon the cruel treeAnd bore His Father’s wrath for me.” “Sweet, thou art sad.” “Beneath a rodMore heavy, Christ for my sake trodThe…
By day she wooes me, soft, exceeding fair: But all night as the moon so changeth she; Loathsome and foul with hideous leprosy,And subtle serpents gliding in her hair.By day she wooes…
What are heavy? sea-sand and sorrow:What are brief? today and tomorrow:What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth:What are deep ? the ocean and truth.
What is pink? a rose is pinkBy the fountain’s brink.What is red? a poppy’s redIn its barley bed.What is blue? the sky is blueWhere the clouds float thro’.What is white?…
When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me;Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree:Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet;And if…