Time Flies

Christina Rossetti's "Time Flies: A Reading Diary" emerged from her mature years as a devotional writer, published when she was fifty-five and had already established herself as both a major Victorian poet and a serious student of Christian spirituality. The work takes the form of daily readings arranged according to the calendar year, offering brief meditations that weave together scriptural reflection, personal observation, and poetic insight. Rossetti conceived it as a practical aid for daily devotion, drawing on her decades of Anglican formation and her intimate familiarity with both the natural world and the interior landscape of faith.

The book proceeds through 366 entries, one for each day including leap year, with each meditation typically spanning just a page or two. Rossetti moves fluidly between close attention to seasonal changes, careful exegesis of biblical texts, and penetrating observations about the spiritual life. Her approach is distinctly incarnational, finding divine truth embedded in the created order while never losing sight of eternal realities. The meditations reveal her theological sophistication, particularly her grasp of patristic sources and her nuanced understanding of Anglican spirituality, yet they remain accessible and practical. Throughout, she demonstrates her poet's eye for precise imagery and her spiritual director's concern for the actual struggles of Christian discipleship.

The work has endured because it successfully bridges the gap between literary artistry and genuine spiritual guidance, offering readers both intellectual substance and practical wisdom for daily life. Rossetti's voice remains fresh and immediate, never merely pious, and her integration of seasonal awareness with scriptural meditation speaks to contemporary interest in creation spirituality and liturgical living. Who should read this: Christians seeking thoughtful daily devotional material that respects both intellect and imagination will find Rossetti a wise guide, though readers looking for systematic theology or extended biblical commentary should look elsewhere.