Time & Brevity
A Smile and a Sigh
From Miscellaneous Poems (1848–69)
Time & Brevity
A smile because the nights are short!
And every morning brings such pleasure
Of sweet love-making, harmless sport:
Love, that makes and finds its treasure;
Love, treasure without measure.
A sigh because the days are long!
Long long these days that pass in sighing,
A burden saddens every song:
While time lags who should be flying,
We live who would be dying.
Cite this poem
MLA
Rossetti, Christina. “A Smile and a Sigh.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/rossetti_c/334/.
Chicago
Rossetti, Christina. “A Smile and a Sigh.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/rossetti_c/334/.
Read this poem with the Codex →