Christina Rossetti — Yet A Little While

I dreamed and did not seek: to-day I seek                 Who can no longer dream; But now am all behindhand, waxen weak,         And dazed amid so many things that gleam                 Yet are not what they seem. I dreamed and did not work: to-day I work                 Kept wide awake by care And loss, and perils dimly guessed to lurk;         I work and reap not, while my life goes bare                 And void in wintry air. I hope indeed; but hope itself is fear                 Viewed on the sunny side; I hope, and disregard the world that's here,         The prizes drawn, the sweet things that betide;                 I hope, and I abide.