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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  789. Rest

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Christina Georgina Rossetti. 1830–1894

789. Rest

O 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,         5
  Hush’d in and curtain’d with a blessèd 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;  10
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.