Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)

[See also 1848, 1849, 1850, 1853, 1855, 1856, 1862, 1866, 1869, 1870, 1875, 1881, 1882, 1890, 1893 and 1896]

Lady Isabella

They knelt in silent anguish by her bed,

And could not weep; but calmly there she lay;

All pain had left her; and the sun's last ray

Shone through upon her, warming into red

The shady curtains. In her heart she said:

“Heaven opens; I leave these and go away;

The bridegroom calls,—shall the bride seek to stay?”

Then low upon her breast she bowed her head.

O lily flower, O gem of priceless worth,

O dove with patient voice and patient eyes,

O fruitful vine amid a land of dearth,

O maid replete with loving purities,

Thou bowedst down thy head with friends on earth

To raise it with the saints in Paradise.

(Written 1847; privately printed 1847)

[In 1866 the above sonnet was re-titled and published as ‘A Portrait II’. The sonnet, ‘Saint Elizabeth of Hungary’, 1850, became ‘A Portrait I’.]

Vanity of Vanities

“Ah woe is me for pleasure that is vain!

“Ah woe is me for glory that is past!

“Pleasure that bringeth sorrow at the last;

“Glory that at the last bringeth no gain!”

So saith the sinking heart; and so again

It shall say till the mighty angel-blast

Soundeth, making the sun and moon aghast

And showering down the stars like sudden rain. […]