The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti A variorum edition: Edited, with textual notes and introductions, by R. W. Crump |
 | I. |
 | II. |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
|
| IV. |
| V. |
| III. |
 | The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti |  |
A Dirge.
She was as sweet as violets in the Spring,
As fair as any rose in Summer time:
But frail are roses in their prime
And violets in their blossoming.
Even so was she:
And now she lies,
The earth upon her fast closed eyes,
Dead in the darkness silently.
As fair as any rose in Summer time:
But frail are roses in their prime
And violets in their blossoming.
Even so was she:
And now she lies,
The earth upon her fast closed eyes,
Dead in the darkness silently.
The sweet Spring violets never bud again,
The roses bloom and perish in a morn:
They see no second quickening lying lorn;
Their beauty dies as tho' in vain.
Must she die so
For evermore,
Cold as the sand upon the shore,
As passionless for joy and woe?—
The roses bloom and perish in a morn:
They see no second quickening lying lorn;
Their beauty dies as tho' in vain.
Must she die so
For evermore,
197
As passionless for joy and woe?—
Nay, she is worth much more than flowers that fade
And yet shall be made fair with purple fruit;
Branch of the Living Vine, Whose Root
From all eternity is laid.
Another Sun
Than this of our's,
Has withered up indeed her flowers
But ripened her grapes every one.
And yet shall be made fair with purple fruit;
Branch of the Living Vine, Whose Root
From all eternity is laid.
Another Sun
Than this of our's,
Has withered up indeed her flowers
But ripened her grapes every one.
| The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti | |