Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830–94

An Echo from Willowwood

RossetCG

TWO gaz’d into a pool, he gaz’d and she,

Not hand in hand, yet heart in heart, I think,

Pale and reluctant on the water’s brink

AS on the brink of parting which must be.

Each eyed the other’s aspect, she and he,

Each felt one hungering heart leap up and sink,

Each tasted bitterness which both must drink,

There on the brink of life’s dividing sea.

Lilies upon the surface, deep below

Two wistful faces craving each for each,

Resolute and reluctant without speech:—

A sudden ripple made the faces flow

One moment join’d, to vanish out of reach:

So these hearts join’d, and ah! were parted so.