Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
Christina Georgina Rossetti 183094The Unseen World. I. At Home
RossetCGW
To seek the much-frequented house:
I pass’d the door, and saw my friends
Feasting beneath green orange-boughs;
From hand to hand they push’d the wine,
They suck’d the pulp of plum and peach;
They sang, they jested, and they laugh’d
For each was lov’d of each.
Said one: “To-morrow we shall be
Plod plod along the featureless sands
And coasting miles and miles of sea.”
Said one: “Before the turn of tide
We will achieve the eyrie-seat.”
Said one: “To-morrow shall be like
To-day, but much more sweet.”
And dwelt upon the pleasant way:
“To-morrow,” cried they, one and all,
While no one spoke of yesterday.
Their life stood full at blessed noon;
I, only I, had pass’d away:
“To-morrow and to-day,” they cried;
I was of yesterday.
No chill across the table-cloth;
I, all forgotten, shiver’d, sad
To stay, and yet to part how loth:
I pass’d from the familiar room,
I who from love had pass’d away.
Like the remembrance of a guest
That tarrieth but a day.