A Smile and a Sigh
Short nights and mornings of loving play prompt a smile; long days bring sighs, songs burdened by sadness, and a wish to die.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Melancholic Poetry · 98 words
First lines
A smile because the nights are short! / And every morning brings such pleasure / Of sweet love-making, harmless sport: / Love that makes and finds its treasure; / Love, treasure without measure.
A sigh because the days are long! / Long, long these days that pass in sighing, / A burden saddens every song: / While time lags which should be flying, / We live who would be dying.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Two rhymed stanzas express contrasting feelings through a smile at short nights and a sigh at long days.
- Love Poetry — The first stanza presents morning love-making and love as treasure without measure.
- Melancholic Poetry — The second stanza dwells on sighing, sadness that burdens every song, and living while wishing to die.
Tags
love · sorrow · passing time · death wish
What this Textopian page supports
A Smile and a Sigh is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Melancholic Poetry
- Length: 98 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Good citation fit
- Work identity for A Smile and a Sigh by Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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