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

Yea, if Thou wilt, Thou canst put up Thy sword;
But what if Thou shouldst sheathe it to the hilt
Within the heart that sues to Thee, O Lord?
Yea, if Thou wilt.
For if Thou wilt Thou canst purge out the guilt
Of all, of any, even the most abhorred:
Thou canst pluck down, rebuild, build up the unbuilt.
Who wanders, canst Thou gather by love's cord?
Who sinks, uplift from the under-sucking silt

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To set him on Thy rock within Thy ward?
Yea, if Thou wilt.