Autumn Violets Flashcards
General information.
Sonnet- unrequited love, lack of reciprocation.
Marriage is overdue, changing attitudes.
Seasonality- ‘autumn’ off peak, low Victorian life expectancy.
Flower language- violets mean modesty and fidelity.
‘worn-out autumn grieves’
personification of autumn.
Nature metaphor, romance should be kept to a younger age. Stunted growth.
‘home bird’ ‘outbound birds’
Seasonal passage of time.
Show the persona deviating from the heteronormative stereotypes.
Waiting birds are not migrating.
‘But when the green world buds to blossoming’
Anthesis, juxtaposing semantics compared to ‘dry stubble’
‘Ruth’
Widow, instability adds to sympathy.
Humble figure, gathering scraps.
Grateful for the charity the farmer shown.
‘Keep violets for the spring and love for youth’
Valid marked by inverted repetition.
Eve West
“Waiting thus becomes a positive action”
Simon Avery
“Rossetti’s speakers demonstrate both an awareness and resistance to, those social and political expectations”
