Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RUINED CROSS, by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RUINED CROSS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: She wreathed bright flower-wreaths in her hair
Last Line: The youthful wanderer died.
Alternate Author Name(s): Alleyne, Ellen; Rossetti, Christina
Subject(s): Crosses; Death; Flowers; Love; Dead, The


She wreathed bright flower-wreaths in her hair,
And all men smiled as she passed by:
And she smiled too, for now she knew
That her last hour was nigh.

Soft radiance shone upon her path,
Her step was fearless, free and light;
Her cheek was flushed with burning red,
Her azure eye was bright.

On, on, still on, she hurried on,
For in the wind she heard a knell,
And to her ear the water's splash
Was as a dying bell.

And in the flowers she saw decay,
And saw decay in every tree;
And change was written on the sun,
And change upon the sea.

She might not pause upon the road,
Lest Death should claim his promised bride
Ere yet her longing was fulfilled,
Her young heart satisfied.

The sun arose, the sun went down,
The moonbeams on the waters shone
How many times! yet paused she not,
But ever journeyed on.

And still, tho' toilsome was the way,
The colour flushed her sunken cheek;
Nor dimmed the azure of her eye,
Nor waxed her purpose weak.

At length she reached a lonely spot, . . .
Why trembled she? why turned she pale?
A ruined Cross stood in the midst
Of a most quiet vale.

A Cross o'ergrown with moss and flowers,
A cross fast sinking to decay;
The Cross she knew, the Cross she loved
In childhood's happy day.

And she had journeyed many miles,
Morning and eve untiringly,
To look again upon that Cross,
To look again and die.

She knelt within its sacred shade,
And hung her garland on the stone;
Her azure eyes were bright with tears
Of love and joy unknown.

And there she knelt, and there she prayed
Until her heart was satisfied; --
The ancient Cross is standing yet,
The youthful wanderer died.





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