The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti A variorum edition: Edited, with textual notes and introductions, by R. W. Crump |
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“Let patience have her perfect work.” |
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 | The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti |  |
“Let patience have her perfect work.”
I saw a bird alone,
In its nest it sat alone,
For its mate was dead or flown
Tho' it was early spring.
Hard by were buds half blown,
With cornfields freshly sown;
It could only perch and moan
That used to sing:
Droop in sorrow left alone
A sad sad thing.
In its nest it sat alone,
For its mate was dead or flown
Tho' it was early spring.
Hard by were buds half blown,
With cornfields freshly sown;
It could only perch and moan
That used to sing:
Droop in sorrow left alone
A sad sad thing.
I saw a star alone,
In blue heaven it hung alone,
A solitary throne
In the waste of space:
Where no moon glories are,
Where not a second star
Beams thro' night from near or far
To that lone place.
Its beauties all unknown,
Its glories all alone
Sad in heaven's face.
In blue heaven it hung alone,
A solitary throne
In the waste of space:
Where no moon glories are,
Where not a second star
Beams thro' night from near or far
To that lone place.
Its beauties all unknown,
Its glories all alone
Sad in heaven's face.
Doth the bird desire a mate,
Pine for a second mate
Whose first joy was so great
With its own dove?
Doth the star supreme in night
Desire a second light
To make it seem less bright
In the shrine of heavenly height
That is above?—
Ah, better wait alone,
In nest or heaven alone,
Forsaken or unknown;
Till time being past and gone
Full eternity rolls on,
While patience reaps what it has sown
In the harvest land of love.
Pine for a second mate
Whose first joy was so great
250
Doth the star supreme in night
Desire a second light
To make it seem less bright
In the shrine of heavenly height
That is above?—
Ah, better wait alone,
In nest or heaven alone,
Forsaken or unknown;
Till time being past and gone
Full eternity rolls on,
While patience reaps what it has sown
In the harvest land of love.
| The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti | |