CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI

��788. Aloof

��T^HE irresponsive silence of the land, -* The irresponsive sounding of the sea,

Speak both one message of one sense to me : Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand Thou too aloof, bound with the flawless band

Of inner solitude ; we bind not thee ;

But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free? What heart shall touch thy heart ? What hand thy hand ? And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,

And sometimes I remember days of old When fellowship seem'd not so far to seek,

And all the world and I seem'd much less cold,

And at the rainbow's foot lay surely gold, And hope felt strong, and life itself not weak.

789. Rest

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. She hath no questions, she hath no replies,

Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessed dearth

Of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth ; With stillness that is almost Paradise. Darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her,

Silence more musical than any song ; Even her very heart has 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.

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