Poems (Rossetti, 1901)/A Rose Plant in Jericho

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4553592Poems — A Rose Plant in JerichoChristina Georgina Rossetti

A ROSE PLANT IN JERICHO.
AT morn I plucked a rose and gave it Thee,
A rose of joy and happy love and peace,
  A rose with scarce a thorn:
  But in the chillness of a second morn
My rose bush drooped, and all its gay increase
Was but one thorn that wounded me.

I plucked the thorn and offered it to Thee
And for my thorn Thou gavest love and peace,
  Not joy this mortal morn:
  If Thou hast given much treasure for a thorn,
Wilt Thou not give me for my rose increase
Of gladness, and all sweets to me?

My thorny rose, my love and pain, to Thee
I offer; and I set my heart in peace,
  And rest upon my thorn:
  For verily I think to-morrow morn
Shall bring me Paradise, my gift's increase,
Yea, give Thy very Self to me.