Sweet Death by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Crossing a churchyard on the daily way to praise and prayer, the speaker watches flowers shed their petals and lose their scent. Their death nourishes the earth; the speaker then accepts that youth and beauty also die, addressing God as a source of rest greater than Saints and Angels.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Christian Devotional Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 251 words
First lines
The sweetest blossoms die. / And so it was that, going day by day / Unto the church to praise and pray, / And crossing the green churchyard thoughtfully, / I saw how on the graves the flowers / Shed their fresh leaves in showers, / And how their perfume rose up to the sky / Before it passed away.
The youngest blossoms die. / They die and fall and nourish the rich earth / From which they lately had their birth; / Sweet life, but sweeter death that passeth by / And is as though it had not been: -- / All colors turn to green; / The bright hues vanish and the odors fly, / The grass hath lasting worth.
Genres
- Christian Devotional Poetry — The speaker addresses God in prayer, placing divine rest above youth, beauty, Saints and Angels.
- Meditative Poetry — Flowers fading on graves prompt reflection on how their death nourishes the earth and how human youth and beauty also pass.
Tags
death · Christian devotion · churchyard · flowers · youth · beauty
What this Textopian page supports
Sweet Death 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: Christian Devotional Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 251 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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