Lord, by What Inconceibable Dim Road Christina Rossetti (poem abou the sabbath)

Lord, by what inconceivable dim road

Thou leadest man on footsore pilgrimage!

Weariness is his rest from stage to stage,

Brief halting-places are his sole abode.

Onward he fares thro' rivers overflowed,

Thro' deserts where all doleful creatures rage;

Onward from year to year, from age to age,

He groans and totters onward with his load.

Behold how inconceivable his way;

How tenfold inconceivable the goal,

His goal of hope deferred, his promised peace:

Yea, but behold him sitting down at ease,

Refreshed in body and refreshed in soul,

At rest from labour on the Sabbath Day.

I don't  believe I've ever read a poem more suitable in describing our need of Sabbath rest. It encourages me as it talks of the reality of a life that is REAL and Difficult but yet full of refreshment and rest.

This is the 3rd of Rossetti's poems. One has been about death and going HOME (a poem I find completely conforting and tender; reminds me of a hymn, "Aren't thou weary, Aren't Thou TIred, Aren't thou sore depressed?...does any one else know they hymn and see the similarities to UPHILL?), the second poem I posted was about human love and now this one about Sabbath rest.  I find she covers so many aspects of life and death, speaking to life, love, losing a baby in childbirth, honoring mothers and those who play those role in our life, marriage, the struggle and the joiy of the christian life. Many poets are too sentimental  and Rossetti is not. Many are too somber and Rossetti has been placed in that category. I don't believe her to have been a sad mopping character. She loved GOd deeply and gave up marriage to a man that did not share her faith. I believe she is one of the best female poets, for her brief, depth of feeling, use of words, rythym and rhyme and honesty.