Religion

Cast down but not destroyed, chastened not slain

by Christina Rossetti 1830–1894

From Verses (1893)

Religion

Cast down but not destroyed, chastened not slain:
Thy Saints have lived that life, but how can I?
I, who thro’ dread of death do daily die
By daily foretaste of an unfelt pain.
Lo, I depart who shall not come again;
Lo, as a shadow I am flitting by;
As a leaf trembling, as a wheel I fly,
While death flies faster and my flight is vain.
Chastened not slain, cast down but not destroyed:
If thus Thy Saints have struggled home to peace,
Why should not I take heart to be as they?
They too pent passions in a house of clay,
Fear and desire, and pangs and ecstasies;
Yea, thus they joyed who now are overjoyed.

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Verses (1893), section: New Jerusalem and Its Citizens.

MLA

Rossetti, Christina. “Cast down but not destroyed, chastened not slain.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/rossetti_c/798/.

Chicago

Rossetti, Christina. “Cast down but not destroyed, chastened not slain.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/rossetti_c/798/.

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