An "Immurata" Sister
A female speaker sees life flowing inevitably toward death and longs to escape frustrated yearning, hope, fear, and pain. She imagines the dead renewed and made wise by unveiled Truth, laments her fruitless search, and urges her soul to rise like sparks as a burnt offering.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Religious Poetry · 296 words
First lines
Life flows down to death; we cannot bind / That current that it should not flee: / Life flows down to death, as rivers find / The inevitable sea.
Men work and think, but women feel; / And so (for I'm a woman, I) / And so I should be glad to die / And cease from impotence of zeal, / And cease from hope, and cease from dread, / And cease from yearnings without gain, / And cease from all this world of pain, / And be at peace among the dead.
Hearts that die, by death renew their youth, / Lightened of this life that doubts and dies; / Silent and contented, while the Truth / Unveiled makes them wise.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Rhymed stanzas express a woman's frustrated longing, desire for death, and final appeal to her own soul.
- Religious Poetry — The speaker imagines death unveiling Truth and urges her soul to rise, addressing it as a whole burnt offering.
Tags
mortality · unfulfilled longing · afterlife · spiritual sacrifice
What this Textopian page supports
An "Immurata" Sister 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, Religious Poetry
- Length: 296 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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