Babylon The Great Flashcards
What is Babylon The Great about?
The poem serves as an allegory for the Whore of Babylon - the image of sin is very real to the speaker and, no doubt, to the Victorian audience who would read this
What is the structure of Babylon The Great? (4 points)
The poem is a classic, fourteen-line Petrarchan sonnet
The first eight lines form an octave or octet in which the woman is described - after the volta or turn, there is a sestet
Metrical rhythm: iambic pentameter - creates a measured, solemn tread, suitable for the subject
Rhyme scheme: ABBA ABBA CDE DCD
What is the language and imagery of Babylon The Great? (4 points)
The voice is that of a third person narrator describing the Whore of Babylon
After the octave and the volta, the narrator addresses the reader to present dire warnings of the danger she represents
The tone is ominous and the mood is sinister and frightening
The descriptive language is vivid and sensual, with use of lurid colour and reference to disease and dirt
What other poems does Babylon The Great link to?
Maude Clare
What is the relevant context for Babylon The Great? (3 points)
The ‘Whore of Babylon’ is from the Boom of Revelations 17:5 - the whore, otherwise known as the ‘Mother of Prostitutes’, appears as a terrible representation of evil
It is significant that the sexually dangerous ‘whore’ is a woman - the gender associated throughout Christian history as the root of sin
Rossetti’s religious beliefs led her to portray this according to her Biblical source
