What Would I Give?
The speaker describes their heart as cold stone and longs for warmth. Unable to speak in their misery, they ask merry friends to go their way and wish for scalding tears to thaw years of frost and wash away an ingrained stain.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry · 138 words
First lines
What would I give for a heart of flesh to warm me through, / Instead of this heart of stone ice-cold whatever I do; / Hard and cold and small, of all hearts the worst of all.
What would I give for words, if only words would come; / But now in its misery my spirit has fallen dumb: / O, merry friends, go your way, I have never a word to say.
What would I give for tears, not smiles but scalding tears, / To wash the black mark clean, and to thaw the frost of years, / To wash the stain ingrain and to make me clean again.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhyming stanzas repeat the speaker's question about what they would give for warmth, words, and tears.
- Melancholic Poetry — The speaker laments emotional coldness, speechlessness in misery, and an ingrained stain they wish to wash away.
Tags
emotional numbness · speechlessness · tears · cleansing
What this Textopian page supports
What Would I Give? 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: 138 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for What Would I Give? by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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