Delphi Complete Poetical Works of Christina Rossetti
Page 57
ST. VALENTINE’S DAY, 1885
ST. VALENTINE’S DAY, 1886
AH WELLADAY AND WHEREFORE AM I HERE?
ALONG THE HIGHROAD THE WAY IS TOO LONG
AND IS THIS AUGUST WEATHER? NAY NOT SO
FROM EARLY DAWN UNTIL THE FLUSH OF NOON
I SEEK AMONG THE LIVING & I SEEK
O GLORIOUS SEA THAT IN EACH CLIMBING WAVE
OH THOU WHO TELL’ST ME THAT ALL HOPE IS OVER
SURELY THERE IS AN ACHING VOID WITHIN
THE SPRING IS COME AGAIN NOT AS AT FIRST
WHO SHALL MY WANDERING THOUGHTS STEADY & FIX
YOU WHO LOOK ON PASSED AGES AS A GLASS
ANGELI AL CAPO, AL PIEDE
AMAMI, T’AMO
E BABBO E MAMMA HA IL NOSTRO FIGLIOLINO
S’ADDORMENTÒ LA NOSTRA FIGLIOLINA
CUCCURUCÙ! CUCCURUCÙ!
OIBÒ, PICCINA
OTTO ORE SUONANO
NEL VERNO ACCANTO AL FUOCO
GRAN FREDDO È INFUORI, E DENTRO È FREDDO UN POCO
SCAVAI LA NEVE, — SÌ CHE SCAVAI!
SÌ CHE IL FRATELLO S’HA UN FALCONCELLO
UDITE, SI DOLGONO MESTI FRINGUELLI
AHI CULLA VUOTA! ED AHI SEPOLCRO PIENO
LUGUBRE E VAGABONDO IN TERRA E IN MARE
AURA DOLCISSIMA, MA DONDO SIETE?
FOSS’IO REGINA
PESANO RENA E PENA
BASTA UNA NOTTE A MATURARE IL FUNGO
PORCO LA ZUCCA
SALTA, RANOCCHIO, E MOSTRATI
SPUNTA LA MARGHERITA
AGNELLINA ORFANELLINA
AMICO PESCE, PLOVER VORRÀ
SPOSA VELATA
CAVALLI MARITTIMI
O MARINARO, CHE MI APPORTI TU?
ARROSSICE LA ROSA: E PERCHÈ MAI?
LA ROSA CHINA IL VOLTO ROSSEGGIATO
O CILIEGIA INFIORITA
IN TEMA E IN PENA ADDIO
D’UN SONNO PROFONDISSIMO
NINNA NANNA, NINNA NANNA!
CAPO CHE CHINASI
THE SUCCESSION OF KINGS
A TRUE STORY(CONTINUED.)
THE TWO ROSSETTIS (BROTHERS THEY)
IMITATED FROM THE ARPA EVANGELICA: PAGE 121
MR. AND MRS. SCOTT, AND I
GONE TO HIS REST
O UOMMIBATTO
COR MIO, COR MIO
I SAID “ALL’S OVER” — & I MADE MY
I SAID GOOD BYE IN HOPE
MY MOUSE
HAD FORTUNE PARTED US
COUNTERBLAST ON PENNY TRUMPET
A ROUNDEL SEEMS TO FIT A ROUND OF DAYS
HEAVEN OVERARCHES EARTH AND SEA
SLEEPING AT LAST, THE TROUBLE & TUMULT OVER
4TH MAY MORNING
QUANTO A LEI GRATA IO SONO
THE CHINAMAN
COME CHEER UP, MY LADS, ‘TIS TO GLORY WE STEER!
THE PLAGUE
HOW MANY AUTHORS ARE MY FIRST!
ME YOU OFTEN MEET
SO I BEGAN MY WALK OF LIFE; NO STOP
SO I GREW HALF DELIRIOUS AND QUITE SICK
ON THE NOTE YOU DO NOT SEND ME
CHARON
FROM METASTASIO
CHIESA E SIGNORE
GOLDEN HOLLY
COR MIO
MY OLD ADMIRATION BEFORE I WAS TWENTY
TO MARY ROSSETTI
NE’ SOGNI TI VEGGO
TO MY FIOR-DI-LISA
HAIL, NOBLE FACE OF NOBLE FRIEND!
HYMN
HEAVEN
1.
What is heaven? ‘tis a country
Far away from mortal ken;
‘Tis a land, where, by God’s bounty,
After death live righteous men.
2.
That that blest land I may enter,
Is my humble, earnest cry;
Lord! admit me to Thy presence,
Lord! admit me, or I die.
HYMN
To the God Who reigns on high,
To th’Eternal Majesty,
To the Blessed Trinity
Glory on earth be giv’n;
In the sea, and in the sky,
And in the highest heav’n.
CORYDON’S LAMENT AND RESOLUTION
1.
I have wept and I have sighed;
Chloe will not be my bride.
I have sighed and I have wept,
She hath not her promise kept.
2.
I have grieved and I have mourned;
She hath not my love returned.
I have mourned and I have grieved;
She hath not my pains relieved.
3.
But her pride I’ll mortify,
For her love I will not die.
Amaryllis fair I’ll wed,
Nor one tear for Chloe shed.
ROSALIND
She sat upon a mountain,
And gazed upon the sea;
Beside her crouched a stag-hound,
A boy stood at her knee.
She fixed upon the ocean
An agonizèd stare —
The ship is fast receding —
Her husband off they bear.
“Oh, robbers! take some pity
Upon my helpless state:
Restore him to my fond arms!
Leave me not desolate!”
They heed not her entreaties,
They list not to her prayer;
The ship is fast receding —
Her husband off they bear.
“Oh Captain! take these jewels
That grace my hair of jet;
And ne’er in my devotion
To bless thee I’ll forget.”
Then sudden cried the pirate,
“Lady, your prayers are vain;
When as my bride I sought you,
You heeded not my pain.
“Now for the grief I suffered
I’ll compensated be” —
He said; and hurled her husband
Into the raging sea.
Upon her snow-white bosom
Sank down that Lady’s head; —
“I join thee, dearest Arthur” —
Fair Rosalind is dead.
PITIA A DAMONE
Ah non chiamarlo pena,
È gioia quel ch’io sento;
Io morirò content
Se morirò per te.
È fervido diletto
Quel che mi sta nel petto;
Per te la morte istessa
Terribile non è.
THE FAITHLESS SHEPHERDESS
1.
There once was a time when I loved,
‘Tis gone to return never more;
My shepherdess faithless has proved,
The maiden I once did adore.
2.
And now we are parted forever,
And gone are my hopes and my fears,
To forget Phillis false I’ll endeavour,
And arrest all these fast-flowing tears.
3.
Yet wherever I turn I must think
Of her who is faithless to me;
I stand by the rivulet’s brink,
And the play of its waters I see.
4.
‘Twas there I first told her my love,
And she blushingly bade me hope still,
And the moon looking down from above
Seemed to smile on the murmuring rill;
5.
On the rill that was murm’ring of love
To its beautiful mistress in heaven,
The moon seeming to speak far above
Of the rays that in token she’d given;
6.
In token of love never-ending,
And pure as when first ‘twas avowed,
As long as that stream should be sending
Soft sighs to its Queen in the cloud.
7.
And false Phillis swore that she’d ever
Keep faithful her pure heart to me,
That she’d think of another love never,<
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So long as the rill true should be.
8.
The rill to its love true remains,
The moon still smiles on it from heaven,
But from you I’ve experienced sharp pains,
That the rill to the moon ne’er has given.
9.
And now we are parted forever,
And gone are my hopes and my fears;
To forget Phillis false I’ll endeavour,
And arrest all these fast-flowing tears.
ARIADNE TO THESEUS
1.
Sunlight to the river,
Moonlight to the sea,
As false and as fleeting
Thou hast been to me.
2.
And I’ve been like the lily
That to the summer clings,
Or like the nightingale
That to the sweet rose sings:
3.
That wooing never ceases
For her indifference,
And never his beloved flower
Reproaching will incense.
4.
But thou more cruel than the rose
Hast left me faithlessly,
To mourn forever and alone
Over thy perfidy.
5.
Soft breezes! waft him not
Across the wide wide sea;
Ingulph, just waves of Ocean!
The wretch who flies from me.
6.
Ah no! ‘tis vain! Affection
For my false love still remains:
Blow, breezes! Peace, ye waters!
Revenge not ye my pains!
7.
May happiness attend thee,
Who hast ta’en from me all joy!
Be thine unmixèd pleasure;
Be mine the sad alloy!
ON ALBINA
The roses lingered in her cheeks,
When fair Albina fainted;
Oh! gentle Reader, could it be
That fair Albina painted?
A HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS DAY
The Shepherds watch their flocks by night,
Beneath the moon’s unclouded light,
All around is calm and still,
Save the murm’ring of the rill:
When lo! a form of light appears,
And on the awe-struck Shepherds’ ears
Are words, of peace and comfort flowing
From lips with love celestial glowing.
Spiritual forms are breaking
Through the gloom, their voices taking
Part in the adoring song
Of the bright angelic throng.
Wondering the Shepherds bend
Their steps to Bethlehem, and wend
To a poor and crowded inn: —
Tremblingly their way they win
To the stable, where they find
The Redeemer of mankind,
Just born into this world of danger,
Lying in an humble manger.
And they spread abroad each word
Which that joyful night they’d heard,
And they glorified the name
Of their gracious God, Who came
Himself to save from endless woe
The offspring of this world below.
LOVE AND DEATH
“Our bark’s on the water; come down, come down,
I’ll weave for thy fair head a leafy crown,
And in it I’ll blend the roses bright,
With asphodel woven of faint sunlight.
But more precious than these I’ll twine the pearls
In the flowing locks of thy chestnut curls;
And the gem and the flow’r from wave and from tree
Shall form a bright diadem, Bianca, for thee.
The sea is calm, and I will guard thee;
Oh what, sweet love, should thus retard thee?
Descend, fairest maiden, descend to the sea,
And sail o’er the motionless waters with me.”
The sound of his last words was scarcely o’er,
When beside him she stood on the ocean shore.
Lightly she entered the gondola,
And gaily her lover followed her —
But for them it had been happier
Had they quietly lain in their beds all night,
Nor sailed forth ‘neath the moonbeam’s deceitful light.
Smoothly, swiftly the gondolier rowed along,
The splash of his oars keeping time to his song;
‘Twas an old tale of hope and of fear and of danger,
Of the loves of a noble princess and a stranger;
How they fled, and were married one fine summer night,
And their days glided on in one stream of delight.
But oh! wherefore trembles that lady fair?
The lightning gleams forth through the heavy air;
The thunder peals loudly, the low wind is wailing,
And the heart of the lady for terror is failing.
But Gonsalvo around her his left arm clasped tightly,
And he fought with the sea that was foaming so whitely;
All vain are his struggles — the billows rise higher,
The thunder is pealing, the sky seems on fire,
The wild wind is howling, the lightning ne’er ceases —
He still clasps his love, but his strength fast decreases —
Fair Bianca has fainted; she hears not the wind,
Nor the splash of the rain; to the lightning she’s blind —
She knows not that down to the depths of the sea
She’s dragging her love irresistibly:
Gonsalvo’s efforts have fainter grown,
And she hangs on his arm like a heavy stone; —
And now o’er them rolls each mighty wave —
In the sea they have found a common grave.
DESPAIR
1.
Up rose the moon in glory,
And glittered on the sea;
Up rose the stars around her,
Making the darkness flee.
2.
The nightingale’s wild warbling
Rang in the far-off wood;
When in his Father’s castle
A mournful figure stood.
3.
His heart was almost bursting,
He madly beat his breast;
As, in low plaintive accents,
His grief he thus exprest.
4.
“Stars, shroud yourselves in darkness!
Pale moon, withdraw thy light!
Let darkness hide the ocean
For ever from my sight;
5.
“Hide cottage, town and city; —
Appear no more, thou Sun!
But let in foreign countries
Thy cheering race be run.
6.
“For I have lost my loved one!
Low lies she in her grave!
Speak not to me of pleasure,
For her I could not save.
7.
“Hark to the distant murmur
As waves break on the shore” —
When lo! a light came flashing
Along the corridor.
8.
The mystic form that bore it
He scarcely could discern;
Its flowing robe was blackness —
Higher the flame doth burn —
9.
He cried, “What art thou, Spirit
So luminous and bright?”
A voice said, “I’m the maid, Sir,
A bringing in the light.”
FORGET ME NOT
1.
“Forget me not! Forget me not!”
The maiden once did say,
When to some far-off battle-field
Her lover sped away.
2.
“Forget me not! Forget me not!”
Says now the chamber-maid
When the traveller on his journey
No more will be delayed.
EASTER MORNING
1.
The sun arises from the sea,
And all around his rays is flinging,
The flowers are opening on the lea,
The merry birds are singing.
2.
The summer breeze is rustling past,
Sweet scents are gathering around it,
The rivulet is flowing fast,
Beside the banks that bound it.
3.
All nature seemeth to rejoice,
In the returning summer weather;
Let us with nature raise our voice,
And harmonize together.
4.
But not alone for summer skies
Shall praise unto our God be given:
This day our Saviour did arise,
And oped the gate of heaven.
5.
To sinful man, if only he
His errings will confess with sorrow,
Then, after earth’s night-misery,
Shall dawn a glorious morrow:
6.
A blissful bright eternity
Bought by the rising of the Giver,
To Whom all praise, all honor be,
For ever and forever.
A TIRSI
Chiami il mio core
Crudele, altero;
No, non è vero.
Crudel non è.
T’amo, t’amai,
E tu lo sai,
Men del dovere,
Ma più di me.