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Elizabeth Siddall (1829-1862)

Worn Out


              1Thy strong arms are around me, love
              2    My head is on thy breast;
              3Low words of comfort come from thee
              4    Yet my soul has no rest.

              5For I am but a startled thing
              6    Nor can I ever be
              7Aught save a bird whose broken wing
              8    Must fly away from thee.

              9I cannot give to thee the love
            10    I gave so long ago,
            11The love that turned and struck me down
            12    Amid the blinding snow.

            13I can but give a failing heart
            14    And weary eyes of pain,
            15A faded mouth that cannot smile
            16    And may not laugh again.

            17Yet keep thine arms around me, love,
            18    Until I fall to sleep;
            19Then leave me, saying no goodbye
            20    Lest I might wake, and weep.

Notes

4] Yet: not in 1899.

13] failing: `sinking' (1899).

18] fall: `drop' (1899).

20] wake: `fall" (1899).


Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: Poems and Drawings of Elizabeth Siddal, ed. Roger C. Lewis and Mark Samuels Lasner (Wolfville, N.S.: Wombat Press, 1978): 15. B-11 5641 Fisher Rare Books Library
First publication date: 1899
Publication date note: Ruskin: Rossetti: Preraphaelitism: Papers 1854 to 1862, ed. William Michael Rossetti (London: George Allen, 1899): 156.
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: 2001
Recent editing: 1:2002/10/5

Composition date: 1856
Composition date note: Spring 1856? (Lewis and Lasner 24).
Rhyme: abcb (abab once)


Other poems by Elizabeth Siddall