| J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921. | | | | What would I give! | | By Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) |
| | | WHAT would I give for a heart of flesh to warm me through, | |
| Instead of this heart of stone ice-cold whatever I do; | |
| Hard and cold and small, of all hearts the worst of all. | |
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| What would I give for words, if only words would come; | |
| But now in its misery my spirit has fallen dumb: | 5 |
| Oh, merry friends, go your way, I have never a word to say. | |
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| What would I give for tears, not smiles but scalding tears, | |
| To wash the black mark clean, and to thaw the frost of years, | |
| To wash the stain ingrain, and to make me clean again. | | | | |
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