Poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti

The World

By day she woos me, soft, exceeding fair:
But all night as the moon so changeth she;
Loathsome and foul with hideous leprosy
And subtle serpents gliding in her hair.
By day she woos me to the outer air,
Ripe fruits, sweet flowers, and full satiety:
But through the night, a beast she grins at me,
A very monster void of love and prayer.
By day she stands a lie: by night she stands
In all the naked horror of the truth
With pushing horns and clawed and clutching hands.
Is this a friend indeed; that I should sell
My soul to her, give her my life and youth,
Till my feet, cloven too, take hold on hell? 

1. The Lambs of Grasmere, 1860
2. A Peal of Bells
3. Song (O roses for the flush of youth)
4. Fata Morgana
5. In the Round Tower at Jhansi, June 8, 1857

Katherine Philips The World ("Wee falsely think it due unto our friends")

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