Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Rest

 
 
 

O Earth lie heavily upon her eyes;

a 
 

Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth.

b 
 

Lie close around her, leave no room for mirth

b 
 

With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.

a 
 5

She hath no questions, she hath no replies,

a 
 

Hushed in and curtained with a blessed dearth

b 
 

Of all that irked her from her hour of birth;

b 
 

With stillness that is almost Paradise.

a 
 

Darkness more clear than noon-day holdeth her,

c 
 10

Silence more musical than any song;

d 
 

Even her very heart hath ceased to stir;

c 
 

Until the morning of Eternity

e 
 

Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be,

e 
 

And when she wakes she will not think it long.

d 
 
 

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.