Christina Rossetti Quotes Flashcards
Themes: - gender - religion - nature - death - temptation - love
From the Antique: (suffrage of women)
“ Still the world would wag on the same, still the seasons go and come”
The use of the anaphora alludes to how archaic societal constraints are still enforced through patriarchy, and societal attitudes are intransigent, which is conveyed through the rigid quatrains within the poem.
“Go and Come” is inverted collocation, suggesting that this is peculiar, expressing Rossetti’s confusion with the systematic subjugation of women.
From the Antique: (suffrage of women)
“cherries ripen”, “blossoms bloom”
Natural imagery to portray the objectification of women, and that they are defined by their sexuality.
Echo: (love)
“thirsting longing eyes”
“souls brimful of love”
“pulse for pulse, breath for breath”
Natural imagery, hyperbolic metaphor that both have connotations with water, which is a necessity for human survival, with the allusions drawn to water Rossetti expresses the difference between secular love and divine love, that a relationship with God is pertinent to humanity. The indication that eternal love is triumphant contrasted with “pop,bfb” conveys the dichotomy of human relationships.
