20 Up-Hill (1862)
Christina Rossetti
“Up-Hill” by Christina Rossetti was first published in her 1862 collection Goblin Market and Other Poems, which is available on Google Books. The poem is in the public domain.
The editorial notes are available under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Unless otherwise attributed, they were written by Dr. Kylee-Anne Hingston at the University of Saskatchewan.
Up-Hill
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.
5
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?
10
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.
15
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.
Work Cited
Rossetti, Christina. “Up-Hill.” Goblin Market and Other Poems, Macmillan and Co., 1862, pp. 128–129. Google Books, www.google.ca/books/edition/Goblin_Market_and_Other_Poems/OSlDAQAAMAAJ.
