Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THREE STAGES: 2. THE END OF THE FIRST PART, by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THREE STAGES: 2. THE END OF THE FIRST PART, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: My happy happy dream is finished with
Last Line: Of the last lingering chime.
Alternate Author Name(s): Alleyne, Ellen; Rossetti, Christina


My happy happy dream is finished with,
My dream in which alone I lived so long.
My heart slept -- woe is me, it wakeneth;
Was weak -- I thought it strong.

Oh wearying wakening from a life-true dream:
Oh pleasant dream from which I wake in pain:
I rested all my trust on things that seem,
And all my trust is vain.

I must pull down my palace that I built,
Dig up the pleasure-gardens of my soul;
Must change my laughter to sad tears for guilt,
My freedom to control.

Now all the cherished secrets of my heart,
Now all my hidden hopes are turned to sin:
Part of my life is dead, part sick, and part
Is all on fire within.

The fruitless thought of what I might have been
Haunting me ever will not let me rest:
A cold north wind has withered all my green,
My sun is in the west.

But where my palace stood, with the same stone,
I will uprear a shady hermitage;
And there my spirit shall keep the house alone,
Accomplishing its age:

There other garden beds shall lie around
Full of sweet-briar and incense-burning thyme;
There I will sit, and listen for the sound
Of the last lingering chime.





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