No Thank you, John Flashcards
wax
And wax a weariness to think upon
With always “do” and “pray”?
The question is to John but may also be rhetorical. She may not expect a reply, considering her uncompromising stand. The reader may imagine his rapidly shrinking confidence.
The verb ‘wax’ means increase. She is growing tired of his pleading. The alliterative ‘wax a weariness’ gives emphasis to her irritation.
loved
You know I never loved you, John;
No fault of mine made me your toast:
Mrs Linde, no grief
This suggests that John is projecting the blame onto the speaker for making him unhappy. But she makes clear that she has never misled him.
When Rossetti says: ‘no fault of mine’ it suggests that she is kicking against the social convention that assumes that it is the women who entrap men. She refutes the idea that she is to blame for his feelings and wants him to see the reality of the situation.
ghost
Why will you haunt me with a face as wan
As shows an hour-old ghost?
She depicts John as a rather pathetic figure; ‘wan’ and ‘an hour-old ghost’. While it is human nature to want to be loved, it is also true that over-dependence and fawning can disgust.
moll
I dare say Meg or Moll would take
Pity upon you, if you’d ask:
And pray don’t remain single for my sake
Who can’t perform that task.
The alliterative ‘Meg or Moll’ suggest that these second-best women are interchangeable. The idea that they would ‘take pity’ says little for all the parties. Victorian loveless arranged marriages are, for Rossetti, a ‘task’, something she couldn’t begin to contemplate. In saying ‘pray don’t remain single for my sake’ she is standing apart from this societal demand.
fifty
Don’t call me false, who owed not to be true:
I’d rather answer “No” to fifty Johns
Than answer “Yes” to you.
Rossetti’s honesty — and sense of humour — is clear in her assertion that she made no promise, and therefore can’t be accused of breaking it. And she would behave in the same way to ‘fifty Johns’.
The increasing defiance of the speaker — an example of hyperbole — is simultaneously blunt and coy.
mood
poem has a conciliatory mood (to palcate or pacify)
hearty
Let us strike hands as hearty friends;
No more, no less: and friendship’s good:
Dr Rank and Nora
The conciliatory mood continues. She is happy for them to be ‘hearty friends’. The adjective ‘hearty’ suggests energy and enthusiasm. But it picks up the earlier reference to her having ‘no heart’. She is indicating that she does have a heart, though in a different meaning of the word.
quibbles
Quibbles and shuffling off and on:
Here’s friendship for you if you like; but love,–
No, thank you, John.
The neat final stanza is absolutely clear. The ‘quibbles and shuffling’ suggest he is rather child-like, unable to face reality, perhaps whining for her to relent. But the last two lines are absolutely unequivocal; he is not for her.
