Lyric Poem · Nature
From “Later Life”
1VI
2We lack, yet cannot fix upon the lack:
3Not this, nor that; yet somewhat, certainly.
4We see the things we do not yearn to see
5Around us: and what see we glancing back?
6Lost hopes that leave our hearts upon the rack,
7Hopes that were never ours yet seem’d to be,
8For which we steer’d on life’s salt stormy sea
9Braving the sunstroke and the frozen pack.
10If thus to look behind is all in vain,
11And all in vain to look to left or right,
12Why face we not our future once again,
13Launching with hardier hearts across the main,
14Straining dim eyes to catch the invisible sight,
15And strong to bear ourselves in patient pain?
16IX
17Star Sirius and the Pole Star dwell afar
18Beyond the drawings each of other’s strength:
19One blazes through the brief bright summer’s length
20Lavishing life-heat from a flaming car;
21While one unchangeable upon a throne
22Broods o’er the frozen heart of earth alone,
23Content to reign the bright particular star
24Of some who wander or of some who groan.
25They own no drawings each of other’s strength,
26Nor vibrate in a visible sympathy,
27Nor veer along their courses each toward
28Yet are their orbits pitch’d in harmony
29Of one dear heaven, across whose depth and length
30Mayhap they talk together without speech.
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“From “Later Life”” by Christina Rossetti — quilloak.com/poems/from-later-life
Quick facts
- Poem
- From “Later Life”
- Poet
- Christina Rossetti
- Length
- 30 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Love, Hope
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 30 lines · 2 stanzas of 15 lines
- Line length
- Lines run 10-11 syllables (median 10), consistent with pentameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Christina Rossetti1830–1894
- Source record
- PoetryDBFrom “Later Life” by christina-rossetti, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 d110e1af3be72968…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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