The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti A variorum edition: Edited, with textual notes and introductions, by R. W. Crump |
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 | The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti |  |
7.
“Qui primavera sempre ed ogni frutto.”
—Dante.
—Dante.
“Ragionando con meco ed io con lui.”
—Petrarca.
—Petrarca.
“Love me, for I love you”—and answer me,
“Love me, for I love you”—so shall we stand
As happy equals in the flowering land
Of love, that knows not a dividing sea.
Love builds the house on rock and not on sand,
Love laughs what while the winds rave desperately;
And who hath found love's citadel unmanned?
And who hath held in bonds love's liberty?
My heart's a coward tho' my words are brave—
90
So often; there's a problem for your art!
Still I find comfort in his Book, who saith,
Tho' jealousy be cruel as the grave,
And death be strong, yet love is strong as death.
| The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti | |