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Christina Rossetti: Poems

Three Seasons


'A cup for hope!' she said,

In springtime ere the bloom was old:

The crimson wine was poor and cold

By her mouth's richer red.


'A cup for love!' how low,

How soft the words; and all the while

Her blush was rippling with a smile

Like summer after snow.


'A cup for memory!'

Cold cup that one must drain alone: 10

While autumn winds are up and moan

Across the barren sea.


Hope, memory, love:

Hope for fair morn, and love for day,

And memory for the evening grey

And solitary dove.