The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti A variorum edition: Edited, with textual notes and introductions, by R. W. Crump |
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For Advent. |
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 | The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti |  |
For Advent.
Sweet sweet sound of distant waters falling
On a parched and thirsty plain;
Sweet sweet song of soaring skylark, calling
On the sun to shine again;
Perfume of the rose, only the fresher
For past fertilizing rain;
Pearls amid the sea, a hidden treasure
For some daring hand to gain;—
Better, dearer than all these
Is the earth beneath the trees:
Of a much more priceless worth
Is the old, brown, common earth.
On a parched and thirsty plain;
Sweet sweet song of soaring skylark, calling
On the sun to shine again;
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For past fertilizing rain;
Pearls amid the sea, a hidden treasure
For some daring hand to gain;—
Better, dearer than all these
Is the earth beneath the trees:
Of a much more priceless worth
Is the old, brown, common earth.
Little snow-white lamb piteously bleating
For thy mother far away;
Saddest, sweetest nightingale retreating
With thy sorrow from the day;
Weary fawn whom night has overtaken,
From the herd gone quite astray;
Dove whose nest was rifled and forsaken
In the budding month of May;—
Roost upon the leafy trees;
Lie on earth and take your ease:
Death is better far than birth,
You shall turn again to earth.
For thy mother far away;
Saddest, sweetest nightingale retreating
With thy sorrow from the day;
Weary fawn whom night has overtaken,
From the herd gone quite astray;
Dove whose nest was rifled and forsaken
In the budding month of May;—
Roost upon the leafy trees;
Lie on earth and take your ease:
Death is better far than birth,
You shall turn again to earth.
Listen to the never pausing murmur
Of the waves that fret the shore:
See the ancient pine that stands the firmer
For the storm-shock that it bore;
And the moon her silver chalice filling
With light from the great sun's store;
And the stars which deck our temple's ceiling
As the flowers deck its floor;
Look and hearken while you may,
For these things shall pass away:
All these things shall fail and cease;
Let us wait the end in peace.
Of the waves that fret the shore:
See the ancient pine that stands the firmer
For the storm-shock that it bore;
And the moon her silver chalice filling
With light from the great sun's store;
And the stars which deck our temple's ceiling
As the flowers deck its floor;
Look and hearken while you may,
For these things shall pass away:
All these things shall fail and cease;
Let us wait the end in peace.
Let us wait the end in peace; for truly
That shall cease which was before:
Let us see our lamps are lighted, duly
Fed with oil, nor wanting more:
Let us pray while yet the Lord will hear us,
For the time is almost o'er;
Yea, the end of all is very near us;
Yea, the Judge is at the door.
Let us pray now while we may;
It will be too late to pray
When the quick and dead shall all
Rise at the last trumpet call.
That shall cease which was before:
Let us see our lamps are lighted, duly
Fed with oil, nor wanting more:
Let us pray while yet the Lord will hear us,
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Yea, the end of all is very near us;
Yea, the Judge is at the door.
Let us pray now while we may;
It will be too late to pray
When the quick and dead shall all
Rise at the last trumpet call.
| The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti | |