Echo

Question 1

“Come to me in the silence of the night;
Come in the speaking silence of a dream:”

Answer 1

Echo:
- Anaphora, reflects desire for physical intimacy
- Reflects a desire to be loved
- Imperative suggests that the protagonist has hoped and prayed for a long time that the loved one would join them

Question 2

“Come back in tears,
O memory, hope, love of finished years.”

Answer 2

Echo:
- Closure, endstopped, futile attempt at reunification
- As an Anglican Rossetti is aware of the empowerment in the afterlife
- “Come” echoes throughout the first paragraph as the speaker longs to reunify with her lover

Question 3

“Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,
Where souls brimfull of love abide and meet;”

Answer 3

Echo:
- Metaphorical language to display heaven as “Paradise”
- The souls are overflowing with love, thirsting to meet again in heaven
- Unusual concept as the souls refer to those stranded, rather than fulfilled with peace

Question 4

“Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live
My very life again tho’ cold in death:”

Answer 4

Echo:
- Conditionals, hope waining
- Speaker realises she cannot be with her partner again
- Submits to her fate in heaven alone - Rossetti finds safety in the comfort God provides

Question 5

“Speak low, lean low,
As long ago, my love, how long ago.”

Answer 5

Echo:
- Tone of closure
- Hushed voice implies finding peace in heaven,
- Last line is sad and poignant, suggests a yearning to be unified as last