The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti A variorum edition: Edited, with textual notes and introductions, by R. W. Crump |
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Serenade. |
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 | The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti |  |
Serenade.
Come, wander forth with me! the orange flowersBreathe faintest perfume from the summer bowers.
Come, wander forth with me! the moon on high
94
Around her car each burning star
Gleams like a beacon from afar;
The night-wind scarce disturbs the sea
As it sighs forth so languidly,
Laden with sweetness like a bee;
And all is still, below, above,
Save murmurs of the turtle dove,
That murmurs ever of its love:
For now 'tis the hour, the balmy hour
When the strains of love have chiefly power;
When the maid looks forth from her latticed bower,
With a gentle yielding smile,
Donning her mantle all the while.
Now the moon beams down on high
From her halo brilliantly;
By the dark clouds unencumbered
That once o'er her pale face slumbered.
Far from her mild rays flutters Folly,
For on them floats calm Melancholy.
A passionless sadness without dread,
Like the thought of those we loved long dead,
Full of hope and chastened joy,
Heavenly without earth's alloy.
Listen, dearest! all is quiet,
Slumb'ring the world's toil and riot,
And all is fair in earth and sky and sea,
Come, wander forth with me!
| The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti | |