Christina Rossetti’s sonnet, Rest, presents death as a serene eternal sleep which provides relief from earthly pain. It is part of her collection, Goblin Market and Other Poems, published in 1862.
In 1902, Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem for a cappella chorus. It unfolds in a gentle, flowing 3/4 time. At the poem’s midpoint, the word “paradise” is accompanied by a radiant turn to D major. From this climax, the music descends harmonically, leading to the hushed penultimate line, “Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be.”
This performance features the London-based vocal ensemble, Tenebrae, led by Nigel Short. It was recorded at St Mary’s Church, Ealing in March of 2024:
O EARTH, lie heavily upon her eyes;
Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;
Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth
With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.
She hath no questions, she hath no replies,
Hush’d in and curtain’d with a blessed dearth
Of all that irk’d her from the hour of birth;
With stillness that is almost Paradise.
Darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her,
Silence more musical than any song;
Even her very heart has ceased to stir:
Until the morning of Eternity
Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be;
And when she wakes she will not think it long.
-Christina Rossetti
Recordings
- Vaughan Williams: Rest, Tenebrae Tenebrae-choir
Featured Image: “London from Highgate, St Paul’s Cathedral Beyond” (1922), Bernard Walter Evans