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 |  |
Paradise: in a Symbol.
Golden-winged, silver-winged,
Winged with flashing flame,
Such a flight of birds I saw,
Birds without a name:
Singing songs in their own tongue
(Song of songs) they came.
Winged with flashing flame,
Such a flight of birds I saw,
Birds without a name:
Singing songs in their own tongue
(Song of songs) they came.
One to another calling,
Each answering each,
One to another calling
In their proper speech:
High above my head they wheeled,
Far out of reach.
Each answering each,
One to another calling
In their proper speech:
43
Far out of reach.
On wings of flame they went and came
With a cadenced clang,
Their silver wings tinkled,
Their golden wings rang,
The wind it whistled thro' their wings
Where in heaven they sang.
With a cadenced clang,
Their silver wings tinkled,
Their golden wings rang,
The wind it whistled thro' their wings
Where in heaven they sang.
They flashed and they darted
Awhile before mine eyes,
Mounting mounting mounting still
In haste to scale the skies,
Birds without a nest on earth,
Birds of Paradise.
Awhile before mine eyes,
Mounting mounting mounting still
In haste to scale the skies,
Birds without a nest on earth,
Birds of Paradise.
Where the moon riseth not
Nor sun seeks the west,
There to sing their glory
Which they sing at rest,
There to sing their love-song
When they sing their best:
Nor sun seeks the west,
There to sing their glory
Which they sing at rest,
There to sing their love-song
When they sing their best:
Not in any garden
That mortal foot hath trod,
Not in any flowering tree
That springs from earthly sod,
But in the garden where they dwell
The Paradise of God.
That mortal foot hath trod,
Not in any flowering tree
That springs from earthly sod,
But in the garden where they dwell
The Paradise of God.
| The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti | |