A Wintry Sonnet by Christina Georgina Rossetti
A robin doubts spring will come, a rosebush complains of frost, a half moon loses interest in waxing or waning, and the ocean says rivers cannot quench its thirst. When spring arrives, the bird nests and sings, the rosebush grows leaves and buds, and the moon and ocean brighten, yet the ocean still thirsts.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Sonnet, Nature Poetry · 177 words
First lines
A robin said: The Spring will never come, / And I shall never care to build again. / A Rosebush said: These frosts are wearisome, / My sap will never stir for sun or rain. / The half Moon said: These nights are fogged and slow, / I neither care to wax nor care to wane. / The Ocean said: I thirst from long ago, / Because earth's rivers cannot fill the main. / When springtime came, red Robin built a nest, / And trilled a lover's song in sheer delight. / Gray hoarfrost vanished, and the Rose with might / Clothed her in leaves and buds of crimson core. / The dim Moon brightened. Ocean sunned his crest, / Dimpled his blue, -- yet thirsted evermore.
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from four speakers' complaints in the opening eight lines to spring's changes in the final six.
- Nature Poetry — The robin's nesting, the rosebush's budding, and changes in moonlight and ocean colour mark the arrival of spring.
Tags
winter · spring · seasonal renewal · personification · ocean · sonnet
What this Textopian page supports
A Wintry Sonnet is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Sonnet, Nature Poetry
- Length: 177 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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