Echo

Question 1

What is Echo about? (2 points)

Answer 1

It is a lyric poem so it functions like a song - describes the longing of a spirit in heaven for the lover left behind

It is unusual in that Paradise is usually associated with peace and content - here the souls ‘thirst’ for those they left behind

Question 2

What is the structure of Echo? (4 points)

Answer 2

Comprises three six-line stanzas - The line lengths vary within each stanza, but in a carefully composed pattern that builds up tension to express appropriately the yearning soul

The first three lines of each stanza are iambic pentameter

The next two lines decrease in syllables — six and then four — returning to iambic pentameter in the last line: The effect is hypnotic

Emphasis is given to the short lines, increasing the drama, and sense of yearning

Question 3

What is the language and imagery of Echo? (5 points)

Answer 3

Rossetti uses a range of techniques, most notably anaphora, that is, repeated refrains

‘Come to me’, ‘Come back to me’, ‘Come in ’ and ‘Come with’ are woven through the poem, appropriately like an echo

She also repeats the exclamatory ‘O’ at the end of stanza one and beginning of stanza two

The imagery is of the spirit - a lexical field that includes ‘dream’, ‘love’, ‘souls’, ‘breath’ and ‘pulse’

Another lexical field relates to water; stream and tears in stanza one, brimful and thirsting in stanza two

Question 4

What other poems does Echo link to?

Answer 4

Remember
At Home

Question 5

What is the relevant context for Echo?

Answer 5

The title Echo relates to the Greek myth of Narcissus and Echo:
+ Narcissus gazed and fell in love with his reflection in a pond
+ Echo loved and yearned for him but was rejected