January Cold Desolate

Listen to:

January Cold Desolate (:44)

by Christina Rossetti 

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

January cold desolate; 


February all dripping wet; 


March wind ranges; 


April changes; 


Birds sing in tune 


To flowers of May, 


And sunny June 


Brings longest day; 


In scorched July 


The storm-clouds fly 


Lightning-torn; 


August bears corn, 


September fruit; 


In rough October 


Earth must disrobe her; 


Stars fall and shoot 


In keen November; 


And night is long 


And cold is strong 


In bleak December. 

Yea, I Have a Goodly Heritage

Listen to:

Yea, I Have a Goodly Heritage (1:02)

by Christina Rossetti

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

MY vineyard that is mine I have to keep,
  Pruning for fruit the pleasant twigs and leaves.
Tend thou thy cornfield: one day thou shalt reap
  In joy thy ripened sheaves.

Or if thine be an orchard, graft and prop        5
  Food-bearing trees each watered in its place:
Or if a garden, let it yield for crop
  Sweet herbs and herb of grace.—

But if my lot be sand where nothing grows?—
  Nay, who hath said it? Tune a thankful psalm:        10
For tho’ thy desert bloom not as the rose,
  It yet can rear thy palm.

Up-Hill

Jean-Baptiste Camile Corot (1796-1875)

Listen to:

Up-Hill (1:09)

by Christina Rossetti

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

DOES the road wind up-hill all the way?
  Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
  From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting-place?        5
  A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
  You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
  Those who have gone before.        10
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
  They will not keep you standing at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
  Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?        15
  Yea, beds for all who come.

At Home

Listen to:

At Home (1:53)

by Christina Rossetti

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

WHEN I was dead, my spirit turned
  To seek the much-frequented house:
I passed the door, and saw my friends
  Feasting beneath green orange boughs:
From hand to hand they pushed the wine,        5
  They sucked the pulp of plum and peach;
They sang, they jested, and they laughed,
  For each was loved of each.

I listened to their honest chat:
  Said one: “To-morrow we shall be        10
Plod plod along the featureless sands
  And coasting miles and miles of sea.”
Said one: “Before the turn of tide
  We will achieve the eyrie-seat.”
Said one: “To-morrow shall be like        15
  To-day, but much more sweet.”

“To-morrow,” said they, strong with hope,
  And dwelt upon the pleasant way:
“To-morrow,” cried they one and all,
  While no one spoke of yesterday.        20
Their life stood full at blessed noon;
  I, only I, had passed away:
“To-morrow and to-day,” they cried;
  I was of yesterday.

I shivered comfortless, but cast        25
  No chill across the tablecloth;
I all-forgotten shivered, sad
  To stay and yet to part how loth:
I passed from the familiar room,
  I who from love had passed away,        30
Like the remembrance of a guest,
  That tarrieth but a day.

An Echo from Willowwood

(Vasily Polenov 1844-1927)

Listen to:

An Echo from Willowwood (1:16)

by Christina Rossetti

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

“Oh ye, all ye that walk in willowwood.”

TWO gazed into a pool, he gazed and she,
  Not hand in hand, yet heart in heart, I think,
  Pale and reluctant on the water’s brink,
As on the brink of parting which must be.
Each eyed the other’s aspect, she and he,        5
  Each felt one hungering heart leap up and sink,
  Each tasted bitterness which both must drink,
There on the brink of life’s dividing sea.
Lilies upon the surface, deep below
  Two wistful faces craving each for each,        10
    Resolute and reluctant without speech:—
A sudden ripple made the faces flow
  One moment joined, to vanish out of reach:
    So those hearts joined, and ah! were parted so.

Announcing ECLECTIC RHAPSODY I

ECLECTIC RHAPSODY I

Maiden Project of RHAPSODIZE!

Now Live on the Internet Archive

Eclectic Rhapsody I

Featuring the poetry of Wilfred Owen, John Gillespie Magee, John Keats, Dante, Alfred Tennyson, Lewis Carroll, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, Homer, Hesiod, and Horace.

Performed by rhapsodes:

Gerard Sutcliffe, Martin Geeson, Carol Box, Caprisha Page, & Bob Gonzalez

This maiden project will continue to expand throughout 2012.

RHAPSODIZE! Home Page

RHAPSODIZE! Catalog Page

RHAPSODIZE! is a classic poetry performance initiative that seeks to popularize rhapsodies (performances of classic poetry) and cultivate rhapsodes (performers of classic poetry).