This week’s reflection is on a poem chosen by the University Chaplain Revd Dr Harriet Harris. Last week the Church remembered Christina Rosetti (1830-1894), pre-Raphaelite poet, who wrote the verse voted as the country’s favourite hymn, ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter’. Rosetti had a breakdown in her mid-teens and her physical health was weakened, perhaps due to mental distress. In 1854, she volunteered to join Florence Nightingale’s nurses during the Crimean War, but was turned down, so instead she turned to humanitarian works in her parish. She suffered bouts of depression throughout her life, and her poems address suffering and solace, and bring great comfort to others. Up-Hill by Christina Rosetti 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? 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. 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? Yea, beds for all who come. Image Hill from Morham Church, 3 May 2020, Harriet Harris This article was published on 2024-06-24
