She Sat and Sang Alway
A woman sings beside a stream in sunlight, watching fish, while the speaker weeps in moonlight, watching May blossoms shed their petals into the water. The speaker weeps for memory and the woman sings for hope; the tears disappear into the sea and the songs die on the air.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry · 107 words
First lines
Song.
She sat and sang alway / By the green margin of a stream, / Watching the fishes leap and play / Beneath the glad sunbeam.
I sat and wept alway / Beneath the moon's most shadowy beam, / Watching the blossoms of the May / Weep leaves into the stream.
I wept for memory; / She sang for hope that is so fair: / My tears were swallowed by the sea; / Her songs died on the air.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhymed stanzas contrast a woman's singing with the speaker's weeping, linking their emotions to hope and memory.
- Melancholic Poetry — The speaker weeps for memory beneath shadowy moonlight, and the closing lines describe both tears and songs disappearing.
Tags
memory · hope · sorrow · singing · streams
What this Textopian page supports
She Sat and Sang Alway 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, Melancholic Poetry
- Length: 107 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
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