There  was  likewise  an  indescribable  but  prevailing  sad-
ness that  constrained  the  onlooker  to  regard  her  with
deep   attention.      This    sadness    partly    resulted    from


ILL-HEALTH  23

several  ailments  from  which  she  then  suffered,  and  which
she  then  thought  might  terminate  fatally.  In  this  connec-
tion two  of  her  early  poems,  '  Looking  Forward,'
recently  alluded  to,  and  '  Life  Hidden,'  dated  respec-
tively June  8  and  July  23,  1849,  which  appeared  first  in
'  New  Poems,'  may  be  referred  to.  These  pathetic  lines
from  the  first-named  poem  give  utterance  to  a  melan-
choly too  deeply  felt  to  be  uttered  superficially  :

Sweet  thought  that  I  may  yet  live  and  grow  green,  )^

That  leaves  may  yet  spring  from  the  withered  root,

And  buds  and  flowers  and  berries  half  unseen ;

Then,  if  you  haply  muse  upon  the  past,

Say  this  :  poor  child,  she  has  her  wish  at  last ;
Barren  through  life,  but  in  death  bearing  fruit.
Several  of  her  early  friends  say  that  about  this  period
a  certain  degree  of  restraint  and  pride  was  observable
in  Christina's  demeanour.  She  herself  alludes  to  this  in
'  Is  and  Was,'  written  in  the  spring  of  1850,  and  first
printed  by  her  brother  William  in  '  New  Poems.'  He
there  informs  us  that  a  lady  told  Christina  she

'  seemed  to  do  all  from  self-respect,  not  from  fellow
feeling  with  others,  or  from  kindly  consideration  for  them.
