Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Rest

 
 
 

O Earth lie heavily upon her eyes;

 

Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth.

 

Lie close around her, leave no room for mirth

 

With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.

 5

She hath no questions, she hath no replies,

 

Hushed in and curtained with a blessed dearth

 

Of all that irked her from her hour of birth;

 

With stillness that is almost Paradise.

 

Darkness more clear than noon-day holdeth her,

 10

Silence more musical than any song;

 

Even her very heart hath ceased to stir;

 

Until the morning of Eternity

 

Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be,

 

And when she wakes she will not think it long.

 
 

Transcription lifted from http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/r/rossetti/rest.html.

Remarks:

Another elegaic sonnet, this one about an unknown subject — thereby impersonal and personal at once.