De Profundis by Christina Georgina Rossetti
The speaker longs for unreachable heaven and stars but has no wish to reach the moon with its monotonous changes. Bound by the body, the speaker strains toward joy and beauty beyond reach and catches at hope.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 148 words
First lines
Oh why is heaven built so far, / Oh why is earth set so remote? / I cannot reach the nearest star / That hangs afloat.
I would not care to reach the moon, / One round monotonous of change; / Yet even she repeats her tune / Beyond my range.
I never watch the scattered fire / Of stars, or sun's far-trailing train, / But all my heart is one desire, / And all in vain:
For I am bound with fleshly bands, / Joy, beauty, lie beyond my scope; / I strain my heart, I stretch my hands, / And catch at hope.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Four rhymed stanzas express a speaker's frustrated desire through questions, celestial images and outstretched hands.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker questions the distance of heaven and considers how bodily confinement limits access to joy and beauty.
Tags
longing · bodily limits · hope · stars · heaven
What this Textopian page supports
De Profundis 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: Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 148 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
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