Gone Forever by Christina Georgina Rossetti
The speaker addresses a blooming rosebud and a singing skylark, warning that both will die. Amid life's joys and pains, we will look in vain for the same bird and flower.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 153 words
First lines
O happy rose-bud blooming / Upon thy parent tree, -- / Nay, thou art too presuming; / For soon the earth entombing / Thy faded charms shall be, / And the chill damp consuming.
O happy skylark springing / Up to the broad blue sky, / Too fearless in thy winging, / Too gladsome in thy singing, / Thou also soon shalt lie / Where no sweet notes are ringing.
And through life's shine and shower / We shall have joy and pain; / But in the summer bower, / And at the morning hour, / We still shall look in vain / For the same bird and flower.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhymed stanzas address a rosebud and a skylark before turning to a shared reflection on their irreversible loss.
- Meditative Poetry — The anticipated deaths of the flower and bird lead the speaker to consider what cannot return amid life's continuing joys and pains.
Tags
mortality · impermanence · rosebuds · skylarks · loss
What this Textopian page supports
Gone Forever 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: 153 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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