An Easter poem: Good Friday by Christina Rossetti

It's the start of a long Easter weekend, and hopefully all of our Readers and followers will have a restful time ahead. However you're marking this time of relaxation and reflection, a pause for some poetry is always welcome.

Here's an appropriate poem for the day by Christina Rossetti. Enjoy - and have a very Happy Easter from all at The Reader Organisation.

Good Friday

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky.
A horror of great darkness at broad noon –
I, only I.

Yet give not o’er
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

Christina Rossetti