No, Thank You, John
I never said I loved you, John:
Why will you tease me day by day,
And wax a weariness to think upon
With always "do" and "pray"?
You know I never loved you, John;
No fault of mine made me your toast:
Why will you haunt me with a face as wan
As shows an hour-old ghost?
I dare say Meg or Moll would take
Pity upon you, if you'd ask:
And pray don't remain single for my sake
Who can't perform the task.
I have no heart?-Perhaps I have not;
But then you're mad to take offence
That don't give you what I have not got:
Use your common sense.
Let bygones be bygones:
Don't call me false, who owed not to be true:
I'd rather answer "No" to fifty Johns
Than answer "Yes" to you.
Let's mar our pleasant days no more,
Song-birds of passage, days of youth:
Catch at today, forget the days before:
I'll wink at your untruth.
by Christina Rossetti
The blame is clearly John’s and she doesn’t take any responsibility for his feelings. It is a very direct and forthright poem from a lady whose work is usually full of images of nature and spiritual devotion. Her tone is fed up and she gives John an ultimatum of friendship “no more, no less”. She certainly exercises her right not to be forced into a relationship, which is a sign of the times in England where the role of women was being debated and changing.
I wonder if John, whoever he was, got the message.