(Lyra Eucharistica, second edition, 1865.)
She holds a lily in her hand,
Where long ranks of Angels stand,
A silver lily for her wand.
All her hair falls sweeping down;
Her hair that is a golden brown,
A crown beneath her golden crown.
Blooms a rose-bush at her knee,
Good to smell and good to see:
It bears a rose for her, for me;
Her rose a blossom richly grown, 10
My rose a bud not fully blown,
But sure one day to be mine own.
The Question and Answer section for Christina Rossetti: Poems is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
The journey is the prominent symbol in this poem, and is open to a few different interpretations. The first interpretation is that the poem symbolizes the journey from birth to death. The darkening sky foreshadows the end of life, and the inn...
Is the poem called Paradise?
We learn the poet is the first to leave the field in the last two lines of the poem.
From the text:
And as I paused to hear his song
While swift the sunny moments slid,
Perhaps his mate sat listening long,
And listened longer than I did.
