A Birthday
My heart is like a singing bird
Whose heart is in a watered shoot:
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That Paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these
Because my love is come to me.
Raise me dais of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.
by Christina Rossetti
6 comments:
Methinks someone *special* is having a birthday?.....
I have loved this poem for so long...since I first came across it in my teenage years and it became a favourite, for the sheer intensity of its feeling.
THis hairstyle reminds me of how beautifully Olivia De Havilland wore it in Gone with the Wind and The Heiress.
Lavinia, Hum...No "special" birthdays today. I just love this poem and the mood that it seems to evoke.
Oh My goodness, you're right, the hair is so much like Olivia De Haviland's in GWTW! I love DGR's painting and drawing of her. He rendered them with such a quiet gentleness.
Rebecca, I notice and remember the following in old movies: hairstyles, costumes, room settings, decor, etc. I find 'period movie' decor especially fascinating.
Lavinia, you have wonderful attention to detail. I couldn't agree more about 'period movie" decor.
Rebecca...Beautiful poem..I did a little research on this lovely lady. This bottom picture of her..looking into her eyes..you can see a sadness. Bad things happened to her as a young girl, causing a breakdown..her poetry and her dedication to women in all kinds of situations led her to almost feminist activities throughout her life...Thank you for such an interesting post...
Christina Rossetti is a source of real fascination... her talented family, her Anglo-Italian heritage, her sensitivity, her relationships, and the deep and fiery sensuality of her poetry.
Rebecca, thank you for reminding me of this one, which I had clear forgotten.
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