Page:Poems Rossetti.djvu/363

 So apt to shrink afraid, so apt to flee,
 Apt to lie down and die (ah, woe is me!)
Faithless and hopeless turning to the wall.
And yet not hopeless quite nor faithless quite,
Because not loveless; love may toil all night,
 But take at morning; wrestle till the break
  Of day, but then wield power with God and man:—
  So take I heart of grace as best I can,
Ready to spend and be spent for your sake.

10.

"Con miglior corso e con migliore Stella."—Dante.
"La vita fugge e non s'arresta un' ora."—Petrarca.

Time flies, hope flags, life plies a wearied wing:
 Death following hard on life gains ground apace:
 Faith runs with each and rears an eager face,
Outruns the rest, makes light of everything,
Spurns earth, and still finds breath to pray and sing;
 While love ahead of all uplifts his praise,
 Still asks for grace and still gives thanks for grace,
Content with all day brings and night will bring.
Life wanes; and when love folds his wings above
 Tired hope, and less we feel his conscious pulse,
  Let us go fall asleep, dear friend, in peace:
  A little while, and age and sorrow cease;
 A little while, and life reborn annuls
Loss and decay and death, and all is love.