At Home Flashcards
What is At Home about? (4 points)
Rossetti hypothetically evaluates the contrast between the sensuous joy of her friends and their way of living, and her own ascetic choices
This can be read as a renunciation of earthly joys in favour of devoting herself to her faith
Although the title projects an idea of warmth, comfort and security, the poem contradicts this, as she sees her friends ‘feasting’ and enjoying themselves without thinking of her
Their focus is on immediate gratification - Rossetti feels that her friends are risking their salvation (intellectual detachment)
What is the structure of At Home? (4 points)
The poem comprises four eight-lined stanzas known as octaves - metrical rhythm is iambic tetrameter
The rhyme scheme is regular, forming an ABCB DEFE pattern - represents Rossetti’s personal self-control, and her desire to place her faith about earthly pleasure and self-indulgence
In several places, the regular rhythm of the verse is broken as new emotions and reflections are described
What is the language and imagery of At Home? (4 points)
The voice is that of the poet using the first person ‘I’
The language is not complex, but the poet is in complete command
She reports what her friends say, and contrasts this with her own ‘comfortless’ mood
In the last stanza, she uses a semantic field of words that describe this discomfort; ‘chill’, ‘shivered’, ‘loth’, ‘forgotten’
What other poems can At Home be linked to?
Remember
Echo
What is the relevant context for At Home? (2 points)
It is worth referring to Christina Rossetti’s biography and her relationship to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The vicissitudes and the emotional lives of the circle that included Dante Gabriel Rossetti (her brother), William Morris, Edward Millais and William Holman Hunt are evident in this poem
