Christina Rossetti
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Does the road wind uphill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
(from 'Up-Hill', 1861)
Her work seems to deal with independence alot. She turned down many suitors, and this distaste seems to reflect in some of her poetry since she places worth of familial love and friendship above romantic love. And there's a touch of depression, which I always like. This is why Aloof is one of my all-time favorite poems.
Aloof
THE irresponsive silence of the land,
    The irresponsive sounding of the sea,
    Speak both one message of one sense to me:�
Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
Thou too aloof, bound with the flawless band
    Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
    But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free?
What heart shall touch thy heart? What hand thy hand?
And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,
    And sometimes I remember days of old
When fellowship seem'd not so far to seek,
    And all the world and I seem'd much less cold,
    And at the rainbow's foot lay surely gold,
And hope felt strong, and life itself not weak.
The Oxbow by Thomas Cole
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1