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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE WHOLE HEAD IS SICK AND THE WHOLE HEART FAINT' by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI

Poet Analysis

First Line: WOE FOR THE YOUNG WHO SAY THAT LIFE IS LONG
Last Line: And this earth changeth and is perishing
Subject(s): YOUTH; DISILLUSION; WEARINESS;

Woe for the young who say that life is long,
Who turn from the sun-rising to the West,
Who feel no pleasure and can find no rest,
Who in the morning sigh for even-song.
Their hearts, weary because of this world's wrong.
Yearn with a thousand longings unexprest;
They have a wound no mortal ever drest.
An ill than all earth's remedies more strong.
For them the fount of gladness hath run dry.
And in all Nature is no pleasant thing;
For them there is no glory in the sky,
No sweetness in the breezes' murmuring:
They say, 'The peace of heaven is
placed too high,
And this earth changeth and is perishing.'



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