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The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti

A variorum edition: Edited, with textual notes and introductions, by R. W. Crump

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“That no man take thy Crown.”

Be faithful unto death. Christ proffers thee
Crown of a life that draws immortal breath:
To thee He saith, yea, and He saith to me,
“Be faithful unto death.”
To every living soul that same He saith,
“Be faithful”:—whatsoever else we be,
Let us be faithful, challenging His faith.
Tho' trouble storm around us like the sea,
Tho' hell surge up to scare us and to scathe,
Tho' heaven and earth betake themselves to flee,
“Be faithful unto death.”