Christina Rossetti
Once for All
                        (Margaret.)
I said: This is a beautiful fresh rose.
        I said: I will delight me with its scent,
         Will watch its lovely curve of languishment,
Will watch its leaves unclose, its heart unclose.
I said: Old Earth has put away her snows,
        All living things make merry to their bent,
         A flower is come for every flower that went
In autumn; the sun glows, the south wind blows.
So walking in a garden of delight
        I came upon one sheltered shadowed nook
Where broad leaf shadows veiled the day with night,
         And there lay snow unmelted by the sun:--
I answered: Take who will the path I took,
        Winter nips once for all; love is but one.