from "Diverse Worlds, Time and Eternity"

Christina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



The half moon shows a face of plaintive sweetness
     Ready and poised to wax or wane;
A fire of pale desire in incompleteness,
       Tending to pleasure or to pain:—
Lo, while we gaze she rolleth on in fleetness
     To perfect loss or perfect gain.
Half bitterness we know, we know half sweetness;
     This world is all on wax, on wane:
When shall completeness round time’s incompleteness,
      Fulfilling joy, fulfilling pain?—
Lo, while we ask, life rolleth on in fleetness
    To finished loss or finished gain.
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Submitted by halel on July 15, 2020

Modified on April 29, 2023

26 sec read
31

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABABABABAB
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 515
Words 87
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. more…

All Christina Rossetti poems | Christina Rossetti Books

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