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University of Virginia Library

The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti

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

Rossetti, Christina Georgina (1830-1894)

I.

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II.

I.

I Sing-Song A Nursery Rhyme Book (1872)

II.

II Poems Added in Sing-Song A Nursery Rhyme Book (1893)

III.

III A Pageant and Other Poems (1881)

IV.

IV Poems Added in Poems (1888)

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V.

V Verses (1893)

“OUT OF THE DEEP HAVE I CALLED UNTO THEE, O LORD.”

CHRIST OUR ALL IN ALL.

SOME FEASTS AND FASTS.

GIFTS AND GRACES.

THE WORLD. SELF-DESTRUCTION.

DIVERS WORLDS. TIME AND ETERNITY.

NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS CITIZENS.

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SONGS FOR STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS.

“Her Seed; It shall bruise thy head.”

“Judge nothing before the time.”

[How great is little man!]

[Man's life is but a working day]

[If not with hope of life]

“The day is at hand.”

“Endure hardness.”

“Whither the Tribes go up, even the Tribes of the Lord.”

[Where never tempest heaveth]

[Marvel of marvels, if I myself shall behold]

“What is that to thee? follow thou me.”

“Worship God.”

“Afterward he repented, and went.”

“Are they not all Ministering Spirits?”

[Our life is long. Not so, wise Angels say]

[Lord, what have I to offer? sickening fear]

[Joy is but sorrow]

[Can I know it?—Nay.—]

“When my heart is vexed I will complain.”

“Praying always.”

“As thy days, so shall thy strength be.”

[A heavy heart, if ever heart was heavy]

[If love is not worth loving, then life is not worth living]

[What is it Jesus saith unto the soul?]

[They lie at rest, our blessed dead]

“Ye that fear Him, both small and great.”

“Called to be Saints.”

[The sinner's own fault? So it was.]

[Who cares for earthly bread tho' white?]

[Laughing Life cries at the feast,—]

“The end is not yet.”

[Who would wish back the Saints upon our rough]

“That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is Man.”

[Of each sad word which is more sorrowful]

“I see that all things come to an end.”

“But Thy Commandment is exceeding broad.”

[O ye, who are not dead and fit]

[Where shall I find a white rose blowing?—]

“Redeeming the Time.”

“Now they desire a Better Country.”

A CASTLE-BUILDER'S WORLD.

“These all wait upon Thee.”

“Doeth well . . . doeth better.”

[Our heaven must be within ourselves]

“Vanity of Vanities.”

[The hills are tipped with sunshine, while I walk]

[Scarce tolerable life, which all life long]

[All heaven is blazing yet]

“Balm in Gilead.”

“In the day of his Espousals.”

“She came from the uttermost part of the earth.”

[Alleluia! or Alas! my heart is crying]

[The Passion Flower hath sprung up tall]

“The Flowers appear on the Earth.”

“Thou knewest . . . thou oughtest therefore.”

“Go in Peace.”

“Half dead.”

“One of the Soldiers with a Spear pierced His Side.”

[Where love is, there comes sorrow]

[Bury Hope out of sight]

A Churchyard Song of Patient Hope.

[One woe is past. Come what come will]

“Take no thought for the morrow.”

“Consider the Lilies of the field.”

“Son, remember.”

“Heaviness may endure for a night, but Joy cometh in the morning.”

“The Will of the Lord be done.”

“Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven.”

“Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.”

“Then shall ye shout.”

[Everything that is born must die]

[Lord, grant us calm, if calm can set forth Thee]

Changing Chimes.

“Thy Servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

[Thro' burden and heat of the day]

“Then I commended Mirth.”

[Shadows today, while shadows show God's Will.]

“Truly the Light is sweet.”

“Are ye not much better than they?”

“Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house.”

“I am small and of no reputation.”

[O Christ my God Who seest the unseen]

[Yea, if Thou wilt, Thou canst put up Thy sword]

[Sweetness of rest when Thou sheddest rest]

[O foolish Soul! to make thy count]

[Before the beginning Thou hast foreknown the end]

[The goal in sight! Look up and sing]

[Looking back along life's trodden way]

III.

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“Afterward he repented, and went.”

Lord, when my heart was whole I kept it back
And grudged to give it Thee.
Now then that it is broken, must I lack
Thy kind word “Give it Me”?
Silence would be but just, and Thou art just.
Yet since I lie here shattered in the dust,
With still an eye to lift to Thee,
A broken heart to give,
I think that Thou wilt bid me live,
And answer “Give it Me.”