Christina Georgina Rossetti (December 5, 1830 – December 29, 1894) was an English poet. Her siblings were the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, and Maria Francesca Rossetti. Their father, Gabriele Rossetti, was an Italian poet and a political asylum seeker from Naples; their mother, Frances Polidori, was the sister of Lord Byron's friend and physician, John William Polidori. Rossetti was born in London and educated at home by her mother. In the 1840s her family was stricken with severe financial difficulties due to the deterioration of her father's physical and mental health. When she was 14, Rossetti suffered a nervous breakdown which was followed by bouts of depression and related illness. During this period she, her mother, and her sister became seriously interested in the Anglo-Catholic movement that was part of the Church of England. This religious devotion played a major role in Rossetti's personal life: in her late teens she became engaged to the painter James Collinson but this ended because he reverted to Catholicism; later she became involved with the linguist Charles Cayley but did not marry him, also for religious reasons.She was his mistress.
song
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,...[read poem]
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Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,...
love's nocturn
Master of the murmuring courts
Where the shapes of sleep convene!--
Lo! my spirit here...[read poem]
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Where the shapes of sleep convene!--
Lo! my spirit here...
insomnia
Thin are the night-skirts left behind
By daybreak hours that onward creep,
And...[read poem]
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By daybreak hours that onward creep,
And...
the portrait
This is her picture as she was:
It seems a thing to wonder on,
As though mine image ...[read poem]
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It seems a thing to wonder on,
As though mine image ...
the house of life: 41. through death to love
Like labour-laden moonclouds faint to flee
From winds that sweep the winter-bitten wold,-...[read poem]
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From winds that sweep the winter-bitten wold,-...
the house of life: 97. a superscription
Look in my face; my name is Might-have-been;
I am also call'd No-more, Too-late, Farewell...[read poem]
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I am also call'd No-more, Too-late, Farewell...
the house of life: the sonnet
A Sonnet is a moment's monument,
Memorial from the Soul's eternity
To one dead...[read poem]
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Memorial from the Soul's eternity
To one dead...
my sister's sleep
She fell asleep on Christmas Eve:
At length the long-ungranted shade
Of weary ...[read poem]
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At length the long-ungranted shade
Of weary ...
the house of life: 72. the choice, ii
Watch thou and fear; to-morrow thou shalt die.
Or art thou sure thou shalt have time for ...[read poem]
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Or art thou sure thou shalt have time for ...
sudden light
I have been here before,
But when or how I cannot tell:
I know the grass ...[read poem]
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But when or how I cannot tell:
I know the grass ...
a better resurrection
I have no wit, no words, no tears;
My heart within me like a stone
Is numb'd too muc...[read poem]
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My heart within me like a stone
Is numb'd too muc...
autumn song
Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the heart feels a languid grief
Laid on...[read poem]
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How the heart feels a languid grief
Laid on...
the cloud confines
The day is dark and the night
To him that would search their heart;
No lips of...[read poem]
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To him that would search their heart;
No lips of...
love-lily
Between the hands, between the brows,
Between the lips of Love-Lily,
A spirit is born ...[read poem]
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Between the lips of Love-Lily,
A spirit is born ...
the stream's secret
What thing unto mine ear
Wouldst thou convey,--what secret thing,
O wandering water ev...[read poem]
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Wouldst thou convey,--what secret thing,
O wandering water ev...
sister helen
"Why did you melt your waxen man
Sister Helen?
To-day is the third since you beg...[read poem]
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Sister Helen?
To-day is the third since you beg...
the house of life: 19. silent noon
Your hands lie open in the long fresh grass,--
The finger-points look through like rosy b...[read poem]
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The finger-points look through like rosy b...
the woodspurge
The wind flapp'd loose, the wind was still,
Shaken out dead from tree and hill:
I had walk...[read poem]
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Shaken out dead from tree and hill:
I had walk...
the house of life: 73. the choice, iii
Think thou and act; to-morrow thou shalt die
Outstretch'd in the sun's warmth upon the sh...[read poem]
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Outstretch'd in the sun's warmth upon the sh...
by the sea
Why does the sea moan evermore?
Shut out from heaven it makes its moan,
It frets aga...[read poem]
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Shut out from heaven it makes its moan,
It frets aga...
mary's girlhood (for a picture)
This is that blessed Mary, pre-elect
God's Virgin. Gone is a great while, and she
...[read poem]
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God's Virgin. Gone is a great while, and she
...
the blessed damozel
The blessed damozel lean'd out
From the gold bar of Heaven;
Her eyes were deeper than...[read poem]
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From the gold bar of Heaven;
Her eyes were deeper than...
the house of life: 36. life-in-love
Not in thy body is thy life at all
But in this lady's lips and hands and eyes;
...[read poem]
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But in this lady's lips and hands and eyes;
...
the house of life: 66. the heart of the night
From child to youth; from youth to arduous man;
From lethargy to fever of the heart;...[read poem]
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From lethargy to fever of the heart;...
the house of life: 71. the choice, i
Eat thou and drink; to-morrow thou shalt die.
Surely the earth, that's wise being very ol...[read poem]
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Surely the earth, that's wise being very ol...
the house of life: 22. heart's haven
Sometimes she is a child within mine arms,
Cowering beneath dark wings that love must cha...[read poem]
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Cowering beneath dark wings that love must cha...
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