De Profundis
Original Text:
A Pageant and Other Poems (London: Macmillan, 1881). PR 5237 P3 1881 ROBA. Text from Christina Rossetti, Poems (1890).
2 Oh why is earth set so remote?
3I cannot reach the nearest star
4 That hangs afloat.
5I would not care to reach the moon,
6 One round monotonous of change;
7Yet even she repeats her tune
8 Beyond my range.
9I never watch the scatter'd fire
10 Of stars, or sun's far-trailing train,
11But all my heart is one desire,
12 And all in vain:
13For I am bound with fleshly bands,
14 Joy, beauty, lie beyond my scope;
15I strain my heart, I stretch my hands,
16 And catch at hope.
Notes
1] The title, which means "Out of the depths," is taken from the first verse of Psalm 130. Back to Line
Publication Start Year:
1881
RPO poem Editors:
Margaret Frances (Sister St. Francis) Nims
RPO Edition:
3RP 3.319.
Rhyme: