Later Life

14 lines

Christina Rossetti·1830–1894·Sonnet·Pre-Raphaelite

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Summary Meaning

In 'Later Life,' Christina Rossetti explores the themes of aging, spiritual yearning, and the weary anticipation of death, employing twilight and the sea as symbols of life's decline and the eternal rest beyond. The poem's philosophical underpinnings are rooted in Christian eschatology, reflecting a tension between earthly suffering and the promise of heavenly repose. Rossetti's literary tone is meditative and resigned, marked by a gentle melancholy and a quiet, persistent hope that tempers the somber acknowledgment of mortality. Through careful formal control and natural imagery, the poem articulates a mature faith that finds solace in patience and the acceptance of divine timing.

omething this foggy day, a something which

Is neither of this fog nor of today,

Has set me dreaming of the winds that play

Past certain cliffs, along one certain beach,

And turn the topmost edge of waves to spray:

Ah pleasant pebbly strand so far away,

So out of reach while quite within my reach,

As out of reach as India or Cathay!

I am sick of where I am and where I am not,

I am sick of foresight and of memory,

I am sick of all I have and all I see,

I am sick of self, and there is nothing new;

Oh weary impatient patience of my lot!

Thus with myself: how fares it, Friends, with you?

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