Seen while aimlessly wandering around Barnes and Noble at today: selected poems of Christina Rossetti. I don’t remember which ones I read but a search presents ‘An Echo from Willowwood‘:
Two gaz’d into a pool, he gaz’d and she,
Not hand in hand, yet heart in heart, I think,
Pale and reluctant on the water’s brink
As on the brink of parting which must be.
Each eyed the other’s aspect, she and he,
Each felt one hungering heart leap up and sink,
Each tasted bitterness which both must drink,
There on the brink of life’s dividing sea.
Lilies upon the surface, deep below
Two wistful faces craving each for each,
Resolute and reluctant without speech:—
A sudden ripple made the faces flow
One moment join’d, to vanish out of reach:
So these hearts join’d, and ah! were parted so.
The poems appeared to be mostly about relationships and religion—not exactly my preference of topics, but they were pretty good. The piece above seems strained, but the four or five I saw were quite smooth—the rhyme felt effortless, if that makes sense.
From ‘Song‘:
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
From ‘Twice‘:
All that I have I bring,
All that I am I give,
Smile Thou and I shall sing,
But shall not question much.
Ok, I’ll stop before I put her whole collection here. But you should really look at ‘Remember‘ as well.