Tag Archives: Christina Rossetti

What’s Wrong with This Picture?

Charles Hood’s photo essay on how places, when we travel, are “supposed” to look (as opposed to how they actually do look) put me in mind of the following Christina Rossetti poem meditating upon the inharmonies of existence. It appears to be addressed to … Continue reading

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Christina Rossetti was Born on December 5, 1830

That would be 179 years ago today, wouldn’t it? Here’s Christina Rossetti’s sonnet, “In life our absent friend is far away”. It’s the 28th sonnet from a collection of her sonnets that she titled, “Later Life”: In life our absent … Continue reading

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Irony in a Good Poem: Christina Rossetti’s “Dirge”

I like this poem. It’s by Christina Rossetti and was published in an 1896 collection of her poems that I found at an outdoor book stall in London two summers back. Someone near to Rossetti’s heart appears to have died in … Continue reading

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“Symbols”: A Poem by Christina Rossetti

I watched a rosebud very long      Brought on by dew and sun and shower,      Waiting to see the perfect flower: Then, when I thought it should be strong,      It opened at the matin hour And fell at … Continue reading

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“The World”: A Sonnet by Christina Rossetti

By day she woos me, soft, exceeding fair:      But all night as the moon so changeth she;      Loathsome and foul with hideous leprosy And subtle serpents gliding in her hair. By day she woos me to the outer … Continue reading

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“Good Friday”: A Poem by Christina Rossetti (Published in 1896)

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,      That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,      To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss, And yet not weep?   Not so those women loved      Who … Continue reading

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