Maybe you’ve heard the poem that begins “Brown and furry / Caterpillar in a hurry.” It was written by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), an English poet who wrote many devotional and romantic poems as well as poems for children. “Goblin Market” and “In the Bleak Midwinter” are also well known.
I recently came across a handwritten manuscript of a few of her poems, held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
“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:
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.
The Manuscript
“Three Seasons” is written on one side of the page. On the other side are squeezed two unpublished poems, “Song” and “A star rose in the sky.”
Publication
“Three Seasons” was published in Rossetti’s first volume of poetry, Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), which was illustrated by her brother, the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Music
In the twentieth century “Three Seasons” was set to music by Icelandic composer Jón Thórarinsson (1917-2012) as part of a three song cycle called “Of Love and Death.” The other poems, also by Christina Rossetti, are “When I am Dead” and “My Friend.” Unfortunately I could not locate a recording.
Embarrassed to admit that In the Bleak Midwinter was the only Rossetti poem I knew; thanks for adding to my repertoire.
Don’t be embarrassed! I recognized her name but couldn’t think of what she’d written. There is just so much poetry and literature in the world!!
Oh goodness, thank you so much for this. I came across this poem in an anthology 40 odd years ago in university and it remains a favourite. Many poems awe or inspire, but this one still affects me like no other, maybe more so with the passage of years. I still read it several times a year when I am feeling sad and melancholy. I wasn’t aware there was a manuscript in her hand available. I’ve never understood why this poem isn’t better known. It is rarely anthologized even in books devoted to Rossetti. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for commenting!