Poems

Question 1

A daughter of eve

Answer 1

• Expresses feelings of regret and sorrow about missing out on the prime of life
• it begins with the poet describing waking up in the cold reality of her own present
• she uses an image of a neglected garden and that symbolises the missed opportunities she’s struggling to contend with in life
• the poet also mentions seasons and uses them to further emphasise the passage of time and her mistakes
• the poem ends with the poet considering the bleak future and how she feels stripped of hope
• Structure - a three stanza poem with is dividing into five lines - known as Quintin’s, the rhyme scheme is ABAAB, in stanza 1 ‘moon’, ‘noon’ and ‘soon’ rhyme.
• Literary device - enjambement in line 1 and 3 of stanza, caesura “no more to laugh, no more to sing”, anaphora “A fool” starts lines 3 and 4 of stanza 1, personification “the comfortless cold moon” in line 3 of stanza 1
• language and imagery - the voice of a sad women who regrets her fate that has ruined her life, first person, the tone is sad and bitter; narrative symbolises what in her mind as she wouldn’t speak in lyrical way, the dominant metaphor of flowers the rose and Lilly to signify the young women’s loss of virginity

Question 2

A castle-builders world

Answer 2

• explores an empty and soulless world that is devoid of authencity
• the poem begins with describing a barren world with unharvested crops and neglected vineyards
• it transitions to discuss the inhabitants of this world, who are not living humans but rather empty ‘masks’ - they lack physical substance
• it ends on critiquing a life focused on materialism and superficiality
• structure - 10 line poem in a single stanza, making it an example of the commonly used block form, the rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDCD
• literary device - enjambment between line 1 and 2, imagery “from the misty gusty place”, consonance in line 6 ‘masks’ and ‘flocks’
• language and imagery - voice of narrator (poet), tone is thoughtful and philosophical, the mood is gloomy, imagery is of natural world, with harvest, flocks and shoals to represent humans and their purposeless activity

Question 3

A smile and a sigh

Answer 3

• Explores contrasting emotions experienced in the context of love
• Begins with joyous statement about short nights filled with love
• The love overwhelms everything but is soon provided with a contrast in the second stanza
• The poet laments the seemingly endless days marked by sadness and burden
• Time slows down and the speaker is wishing for everything to fast
• structure - 2 stanza poem divided sets of five lines. The rhyme scheme is ABABB
• literary device - enjambment between lines 2 and 3, caesura “of sweet love-making, harmless sport.”, Anaphora - repetition of “love” starts 2 lines in stanza 1 and “A” start 2 lines in stanza 2, personification - describing time as flying
• language and imagery - no pronoun till the end, poet intended meaning to be universal, 2 abstract ideas: a life with live is full of pleasure, A life without love is burdensome. Time “which should be flying”, as it does when one is happy and loved, drags when one is unhappy and loveless. In the latter state death is longed

Question 4

A triad

Answer 4

• explores the dilemma of Victorian women
• she gives three examples of women:
  1. One who struggled to find happiness and fulfilment in a restrictive society, with its expectations of what women should be and should aspire to
  2. A women was required to be submissive and sweet, not to exercise independence of thought or spirit, and to be obedient to her husband
  3. Unmarried women were considered social failures and lived stunted, infilled lives.
• the worst fate was for women who’s poverty or misfortune led them to work as prostitutes
• Rossetti’s “Triad” comprised a “fallen” women, a young women who sought love but was treated as a trophy wife to display, and a wife who was lonely within a loveless marriage
• All three were naturally unhappy
• structure - A sonnet with a Petrarchan form, rhyme scheme ABAB BCBC DEF DFE, no Volta. Iambic pentameter.
• language and imagery - third person voice (poet) who describes the three women, the mood is restrained and understated, therefore all the more effective in its depiction of sadness, the three women are allegories representing the three life situations that trapped them, Rossetti uses vivid, sensual description to portray the women, using colours, textures and sounds to represent them

Question 5

A thread of life

Answer 5

• the poem is made from 3 linked sonnets the subjects which are silence, sounds and self. These form the ‘thread of life’ of the title
• Rossetti depicts herself as “aloof” focussed on an inner world of “solitude” which is without sound or sign of life
• she therefore feels trapped by a self-chain
• according to the poem silence can be comforting as well as claustrophobic
• structure - 3 sonnets each representing a stage in Rossettis experience of solitude and silence, fourteen lines with a Volta at the end of line 8, iambic pentameter, the rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDC DCD
• language and imagery- first person “I”, the tone is philosophical but progresses stanza by stanza from mournful to hopeful, imagery from natural world (sea, land, bees, birds, seasons), abstracts like “time” and “death” are capitalised, the poem is scattered with rhetorical questions ending with a final question which can, paradoxically be interpretation as a resolution.

Question 6

Amor mundi

Answer 6

• the poem traces the beginning of a loving relationship, with its sense of ease and joy
• but this pleasure is interrupted by ‘blackest clouds’, symbolising and fear and doubts, and the awareness that one’s actions can have dire consequences
• life is a difficult journey - Rossetti faced challenges and struggles in her own life , 2 failed romantic relationships.
• the two people in this poem and their experience may be an expression of her own difficult life
• structure - the poem has 5 stanzas of 4 lines each, lines are unusually long, rhyme scheme ABCB, the poem is divided into; the first 2 stanzas happy and then a Volta into wry pessimism, the first 2 or 3 lines of three of the stanzas form questions followed by answers - hypophora
• language and imagery - first person narrator, the poem begins with a light hearted tone, after stanza 2 is transformed into the gloom conveyed by the black clouds and vision of hell, even the flowers are “sickly” and the “scaled and hooded worm” predicts death and corruption

Question 7

An apple gathering

Answer 7

• the heroine is a “fallen” women: one deemed unworthy by society, usually as a result of sexual experience outside marriage. The theme was common one in Victorian - era poetry and one Rossetti addressed multiple times
• structure - the poem comprises seven quatrains or four lines stanzas, with an ABAB interlocking rhyme scheme, Regular iambic pentameter pattern, last line of each stanza is a iambic tetrameter - gives the last line of each stanza extra emphasis
• language and imagery - the voice of that of a narrator, not the poet, using the first person pronoun ‘I’. The tone is of regret and hopelessness, the dominant metaphor is of apples as the symbol of temptation and premature self indulgence, it is also, of course, a reference to the fruit of the tree of knowledge that eve tasted - the temptation led to the fall of man, traditionally the fruit is described as an apple

Question 8

Autumn violets

Answer 8

• she combines two subjects vital to life as she saw it; love and nature, she posits that violets - a metaphor for love and youth - belong to spring time and new love and hope, feather than autumn. The second stanza ends with a surprising analogy; the story of Ruth
• Rossettis suggesting that we should be grateful for what little love is granted to us
• structure - there are two of seven lines each, first stanza has ABBAABB rhyme scheme and the second has ABCDCBD, iambic pentameter - creates a solemn, elegant rhythm appropriate to the subject
• language and imagery - the voice is of the narrator, the tone is serious and thoughtful, the dominant image is that of violets and the significance that the poet places in them; they are a metaphor for love, the final line introduce an unexpected intertextual reference to the Old Testament bible story of Ruth

Question 9

Confluents

Answer 9

• this concise deceptively simple poem follows a familiar subject in hat dominates Rossetti’s work, what has been described as her “death with”, it is far more likely to imply yearning for God rather than earthly love, though both interpretations are possible, the mood throughout is sad and depressed
• confluences means merging usually relating to rivers and flowing water, here it ports soul that seeks it spiritual home merging - we can assume with God
• structure - the poem comprises four stanzas with the rhyme scheme ABABCCC, there is progress from stanza to stanza dealing with the soul then heart then spirit then finally sorrow past
• language and imagery- the voice is that if the poet using first person pronoun “I”, the dominant image is of the inevitable journey of rivers towards the sea, a metaphor for the poets soul seeking God although this is only implied, the reference of the natural world - sun, a rose , dew are characteristic Rossetti

Question 10

De Profundis

Answer 10

• Rossetti begins by questioning the arrangement of the universe, observing that she feels isolated from the starts - a metephor for heaven, she is longing to reach the other life beyond the one on this earth - death wish
• the mood is profoundly melancholy - Rossetti was clearly depressive for periods of her life
• structure - made of 4 four lined stanzas, there is a regular rhyme scheme of ABAB, the shirt last line gives it extra emphasis and is unsettling
• language and imagery - the voice is that of a first person speaker - the poet using “I”, which he tone is sad and contemplative, the dominant imagery is of the cosmos - sun, moon, stars representing the longed - afterlife that Rossetti longs, the abstract concepts of joy and beauty and hope are invoked as ideals that the poet aspires to but are out of her reach

Question 11

Echo

Answer 11

• this is a lyric poem, meaning that it functions like a song, lyric poems usually deal with strong emotion, conciseness and describes a moment in time, rather than a narrative story
• Rossetti’s poem 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
• structure - the poem is skilfully crafted, it has three six line stanzas, the line lengths vary in each stanza, the first three lines of each stanza are iambic pentameter, the next two lines decrease in syllables and then return to iambic pentameter in the last line - the effect is hypnotic, emphasis given to the short lines increasing the drama and sense of yearning
• language and imagery - she 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 like an echo, the imagery is of the 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 12

From the antique

Answer 12

• her poem deals with the plight of victorian women. Whether middle class or working class, work were regarded as of lower value and than men - suited with for domestic drudgery if poor and uneducated or if from a higher level of society regarded as delicate and emotional and not very clever.in both cases they were thought to be incapable of logical thought
• in stanza one the speaker starts as a separate person from the poet, as indicated by ‘she said’ in the first line. But then she directly addresses the reader , it is difficult to know where Rossetti stands in this scenario
• the speaker is saying that women aren’t valued for themselves; that that men hold the power in society. Her perspective is bleak; she wonders if anyone would notice ‘if I were gone’. This must be a fair reflection of what many disregarded women living empty restricted lives must have felt
• structure - the poem has 4 stanzas of four lines each and there is a regular ABCB rhyme scheme. Lines are of even length mostly end stopped.
• language and imagery - the voice is of the first person “I” but reported through a third person narrator as indicated by “she said” in the first line . The language is simple imitating everyday speech, the mood is bleak - beginning and ending with assertions of weariness

Question 13

Have you forgotten

Answer 13

• Rossetti chose a sonnet structure for this poem, appropriate to the solemnity of the theme; a failed love affair. In the latter the speaker is urging her lover not to grieve too painfully after her death. Here she is the one remembering loving moments and asking why he seems to have forgotten her; the opposite emotion.
• It isn’t known if this poem represents the poet’s personal experience or if it is a work of imagination. Christina Rossetti had several love affairs though she never married.
• structure - Rossetti has followed the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet structure, meaning that there is a set rhyming pattern comprising two four-lined quatrains ABBA ABBA CDE CDE. The metre follows the traditional iambic pentameter, that is five metrical feet or iambs per line, where a iamb comprises one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The volta or “turn”, where the poet changes direction in the meaning or argument can be said to come at this point. However, at line thirteen, with the conjunction “But”, the speaker changes to a harsher mood and the unhappy present moment. Therefore, with two possible voltas, the poet has chosen to deviate from the template.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of a first person speaker, though it is not clear if this is the poet or an imagined scenario. The tone is elegant, sad and solemn. Rossetti begins with a question addressed to an invisible second person singular “you”, but clearly not expecting a reply; there is none in this poem. So this amounts to a rhetorical question. She follows with a description of nature and a summer night, with reference to the moon and warm winds. The mood begins romantically, but with hints that the relationship is not quite idyllic, notably in the statement “not quite at ease”. This leads on to the sharp, abrupt conjunction at line thirteen, the capitalised “But”, where the tone is resentful and questioning.

Question 14

Goblin market

Answer 14

• While Rossetti insisted that the poem was a cautionary tale for children, it deals with very adult subject matter, and remains a potent allegory. The following interpretations are worth noting.
  — an expression of Rossetti’s feminist and homosexual politics, especially since the 1970s Feminist movement.
  — feminine sexuality and its relation to Victorian social mores.
  — allusions to Adam and Eve, forbidden fruit, and temptation, for example, when Lizzie remembers her dead friend Jeanie. On this the poem is ambiguous because of Laura’s recovery, whereas Victorian portrayals of the fate of ‘fallen women’ would usually end in death.
  — anti-Semitic interpretation (critic Cynthia Scheinberg) in the depiction of the Goblins’ anti-Judaic characteristics. The Christian sisters face danger and temptation before transforming into wholesome and complete young women.
  — a capitalist critique of the growing Victorian economic market. Note that when the poem was published only the very wealthy were able to buy fresh fruit.
  — a criticism of Victorian marriage markets and the need for an alternative culture.
  — the dangers of drug addiction. Laudanum, an opium based medicine, was widely taken as an addictive recreational drug in Victorian society.
  — an image of Jesus Christ in Lizzie when she says: ‘Eat me, drink me, love me.’ This is imagery used to identify Christ’s sacrifice in communion services.
• structure - There is an irregular rhyme scheme, often using couplets or ABAB rhymes, but also repeating some rhymes many times in succession, or allowing long gaps between a word and its pair. The metrical rhythm is also irregular, typically, though not always, three or four stresses per line, and broadly iambic tetrameter, where a iamb or metrical foot is made up of one unstressed and one stressed syllable. Frequent use of enjambment that is run-on lines that create a loose structure to the poem, could suggest Laura and Lizzie’s lack of control in the situation and their own bodies. This could also be expressing the Goblin’s lack of control over their own instincts (their lust taking over?)
• language and imagery - The poem begins with lush description of fruit that sets the tone for the poem. Its sensuous, erotic overtones justify the view that this is a metaphor for female sexuality; for example the ‘bloom-down-cheeked peaches’ in line 9. The third person voice gives a measure of detachment. The powerful narrator can describe the events in a way that the characters wouldn’t, so the reader can make judgments and draw inferences. The alliterated names, Lizzie and Laura, suggest the two sisters form a complementary whole, their opposing characteristics — self-indulgence and self-control combined to contrast moral strength and weakness. Descriptions of the natural world are woven through the poem; weather, animals and birds, flowers, night and day. These are metaphors that reflect events; good and bad.

Question 15

Memory

Answer 15

• The first part of this poem was written in 1857 and the second part in 1865. It deals with her rejection of love, despite being engaged twice and having several more men interested in her. Her religious scruples are difficult to grasp today, but she decided to remain true to her principles. Given the low status of unmarried women in Victorian times — spinsterhood meant social failure and there were few satisfying alternatives to marriage — this was a courageous choice. The essence of the poem is the memory of love relinquished in this life, but to be consummated in an afterlife of fulfillment.
• structure - The poem is divided into two parts, the first comprisisng five stanzas, the second four. Each is a quatrain, that is with four lines, and a regular ABAB interlocking rhyme scheme. The final line in each stanza is shorter, to give emphasis. In part one the metrical rhythm is broadly iambic pentameter, that is five iambs or metrical feet per line, where a iamb is one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The exception is the last line in each stanza which is shorter — five or six syllables. This change in the regular rhythm is slightly unsettling and gives emphasis to the last line. It is a typical Rossetti technique. In part two the rhythm varies more, with shorter second lines as well. The rhyme scheme also changes to an ABBA pattern. We can imagine the poet wanting to discard the regular tread of the metre and express herself with greater freedom.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of the speaker using the first person pronoun ‘I’. The tone at first is subdued but clipped, strong and definite. However, this builds up to an intense, fierce stanza at the end of part one. Note that the poem begins in the past tense, as the poet looks back on the mysterious ‘it’; her love. The second part changes to the present tense, as she contemplates the present and the future. There is a mood of peace and resignation, expressed in terms of the inevitable cycle of the seasons and the last hopeful reference to ‘Paradise’.

Question 16

No thank you John

Answer 16

• Christina Rossetti never married, though she was courted by several men during her life and engaged two or three times. Her readiness to turn down offers of marriage attests to her independence and strength of character. For women in Victorian times spinsterhood meant social failure; a limited, restricted life and low status. Rossetti’s belief was that to be unmarried was preferable to being married unhappily. A strong young woman, she was not prepared to compromise. In this poem we see another side to the devout, serious, intelligent person, reinforcing a sense of female empowerment. This can be justified by the prevalent lack of a male voice in the poem. Rossetti was a supporter of women’s rights (though she refused to support women’s suffrage), and here she makes clear that she will not be persuaded or duped by the pleadings of a man who seems to use every means to project responsibility for his unhappiness onto her. The tone is sarcastic and assertive.
  The suitor was named John Brett. It is fortuitous that, given his common first name, he could represent any man.
• structure - The poem comprises eight four-line stanzas known as quatrains. Lines are of uneven length and with no regular metrical rhythm, as if to indicate that the speaker is too annoyed with ‘John’ to care about a precisely thought-through structure. There is a regular ABAB rhyme scheme throughout, which adds to this conversational, perhaps playful tone.
• language and imagery - The poem is a dramatic monologue with the speaker addressing her suitor, John. The reader pieces together the story. The tone is playful but accusatory; the poet is clearly exasperated with John for projecting his unhappiness onto her, as in stanza four, ‘I have no heart,’ and stanza two ‘Will you haunt me with a face as wan/As shows an hour-old ghost.’ It ends with a final, emphatic, humorous brush-off, ‘No thank you, John’.

Question 17

Out the deep

Answer 17

• This sad, tortured poem reflects many of Christina Rossetti’s overwhelming fears and concerns; the essence of her being, as expressed in her poetry. Deeply religious, full of guilt and insecurity, she was consumed with a death wish, a yearning to reach God, but deeply doubtful as to her worth. Few of her poems express this as profoundly as this.
• structure - The poem is a sonnet, a fourteen line tightly constructed composition. The rhyme scheme follows the pattern ABBA ABBA CDE DEC, therefore it is a Petrarchan sonnet in that the first eight lines form an argument, and the next six lines an “answer”. So, Rossetti begins by describing her yearning for God. The volta or “turn” could be said to come at this point, (though this isn’t altogether clear-cut), in which she speculates as to how God will respond to her. The metre follows the traditional iambic pentameter, that is five metrical feet or iambs per line, where a iamb is made up of one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The effect is solemn and elegant, as appropriate to the subject.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of a first person speaker, we can presume the poet, using the pronoun “I”. The tone is gloomy, suggesting depression. The dominant image is that of God as a shepherd with a rod and staff, to whom the poet looks to for guidance and salvation. The significance of rod and staff is explored in the detailed annotations. The poet’s distress is conveyed through choppy short phrases and incomplete syntax. The last three lines exemplify this.

Question 18

Remember

Answer 18

• This poem was written during a period of national mourning for Prince Albert who died in 1861. Queen Victoria, along with her subjects, was expected to mourn for two years, but in the event she grieved for the remaining 40 years of her life. During this so-called “Victorian mourning period” it was the custom for poetry to deal with themes of grief, remorse, and death. These are evident in Rossetti’s sonnet
• The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet in which the narrator addresses her beloved and encourages him to remember her after her death. She asks him to keep her in his mind even when memory of her begins to fade. Eventually, the narrator gives this person — either real of imagined — her permission to forget her gradually because it is better to “forget and smile” than to “remember and be sad.”
• Acceptance of death is common in Pre-Raphaelite philosophy. Pre-Raphaelites also believed that material troubles pale in comparison to the struggles of the mind.
• The tone of the first eight lines, the octave, is contemplative and reconciliatory on the topic of death. The narrator can finally be at peace because she has renounced her desire for earthly pleasures, such as the physical presence of her beloved. The Pre-Raphaelite belief system demanded renunciation of human desire.
• She repeats ‘Remember me’, as a refrain or anaphora, but the tone changes when she renounces the need to be remembered altogether. The poem ultimately deals with the struggle between physical existence and the afterlife.
• There is however, an alternative interpretation, in which ‘the future that you planned’ in line six reads like a recognition of his dominance — she seems not to have been consulted! —, and the entire poem is a statement of her wish to assert her independence. This is valid and ties in with her assertion of independence, where the ‘silent land’ of line two is her future life without him. It is ‘silent’ because she won’t communicate with this man. But the possibilities are intriguing.
• structure - Remember” is a Petrarchan sonnet in iambic pentameter, consisting of an octave (that is the first eight lines) with an ABBA ABBA rhyming pattern, also known as envelope rhyme. There follows a CDD ECE rhymed sestet (the next six lines). The transition is known as a volta or ‘turn.
• language and imagery - Rossetti uses iambic pentameter, that is five iambs or ‘feet’ to the line, to give the poem a dignified rhythm appropriate to the seriousness of the subject. However, she varies this, for example, in line two by opening with a trochee, with the stress falling on ‘gone’, to emphasise its importance. The next word ‘far’ can be either stressed or unstressed. If stressed this would form a spondee. Each time ‘away’ is used, the word occupies a full metrical foot, again to reinforce its significance. The refrain ‘Remember me’ appears twice. The device of placing and repeating a phrase at the beginning of lines of poetry is known as anaphora. The word ‘remember’ appears once more in the final line. The imagery of death, a ‘silent land’, dominates.

Question 19

Sweet death

Answer 19

• In this poem Christina Rossetti asserts that death is sweeter than life. She uses as an analogy to justify her contention the cycle of plant life, where flowers have to die and return to the earth, nourishing it and making it richer for re-growth the following year.
• This is compared to the life cycle of humans; young beautiful people also die, their bodies return to earth, but their souls go to heaven and therefore are spiritually reborn. It is the speaker’s belief that we should accept our fate.
• structure - The poem comprises three stanzas of eight lines each. There is a pattern of indentations repeated in each stanza, reflecting the meaning — the detailed annotations will explain this. There is also a complex rhyme scheme that follows the same pattern in each stanza; ABBACCAB. Some of the rhymes are consonant, as in “die” and “company” in stanza three. The rhythm is complex, with lines of varied length, though following the same pattern in each stanza. The choppy rhythm is unsettling, as appropriate to the meaning.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of the speaker, we can assume the poet, using the first person pronoun “I”. The tone is thoughtful and philosophical. Imagery is of the natural world, notably the life cycle of plants, with focus on the senses; colour and perfume. The third stanza, however, invokes God and, in a surprising biblical reference, also invokes the story of Ruth.

Question 20

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment

Answer 20

• In the first lines of this piece, the speaker questions whether decline is the only possible outcome of pride and moral decay. The speaker refers to “her,” the fallen entity, and questions whether she now has no allies or friends to support her. Those who once admired her now fear for their own fate. The poem suggests that this entity will fade away in the same way as a fleeting dream or shadow. The final line implies that the entity will face isolation and torment for the rest of time, a likely allusion to Hell.
• structure - it is a four-stanza poem that is divided into sets of four lines, known as quatrains. These quatrains are quite simple and relatively short (some lines are as short as three words). The quatrains follow a simple rhyme scheme of ABBA, changing end sounds from stanza to stanza. For example, “this” and “besottedness” rhyme in stanza one, as do “beside” and “pride.”
• language and imagery - Enjambment: This can be seen when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point. For example, the transition between lines three and four of the first stanza.
  Caesura: This can be seen when the poet inserts a pause in the middle of a line of verse. For example, “Is this the end? is there no end but this?”
  Anaphora: This can be seen when the poet repeats the same phrase multiple times at the beginning of lines. For example, “Yea, like” which begins two lines in stanza three.
  Simile: This can be seen when the poet compares two things using “like” or “as.” For example, “Yea, like a dream; / Yea, like the shades that seem.”

Question 21

The greatest of these is charity

Answer 21

• The title of this poem is an adapted quotation taken from Corinthians 13-13. This device, of taking a famous or significant quotation from another work and using it legitimately to enhance one’s own is known as intertextuality. The first eight lines deal with human frailty, the fact that “we are born to darkness”. After the volta Rossetti depicts hope and love, a glimpse of the “New Jerusalem”, the kingdom of heaven. Rossetti’s deeply religious outlook informs many of her poems. Her troubled life, beset with two broken engagements and latterly illness, was eased by her devout Christianity. She looked forward to the afterlife, what has been described as her “death wish”. This is expressed clearly in this poem.
• structure - This follows the template of a Petrachan sonnet, with the volta at line eight/nine. Rhyme Scheme:
  Rossetti chose a rhyme scheme that follows the pattern ABBA, ABBA, CDC DDC, adhering strictly to the sonnet template.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of the poet, using a third person narrator. The tone is serious and thoughtful. The metre is iambic pentameter, stately and rhythmic, that conveys an impression of dignity and seriousness. Shakespeare’s sonnets follow this pattern. This sonnet is characterised by repetition forming a refrain or anaphora at the beginning of the first four lines.

Question 22

The queen of hearts

Answer 22

• Rossetti explores in this poem the feelings of exasperation that result from losing in the game of love. The speaker, we can presume the poet, uses the metaphor of a card game at which she loses, no matter how hard she tries. The “Queen of Hearts” is a metaphor for love. She uses a range of strategies, but still loses at the card game and, by implication, loses at finding elusive love. Her rival in the game of love, the card-player who always wins, is the Roman goddess Flora. The poem could be taken as autobiographical. Although Rossetti was judged beautiful and modelled for the Raphaelite painters, her three serious love affairs failed to result in marriage.
• structure - There are seven quatrains or four-lined stanzas. The rhyme scheme follows the traditional AABB pattern, forming two couplets. The metrical rhythm is more unusual, formed of a pair of iambic pentameters, that is five iambs or metrical feet per line, where a iamb is one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The second pair are iambic trimeters, that is three metrical feet or iambs per line.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of the speaker, we can assume the poet. The tone is drily humorous, characteristic of Rossetti in several of her poems — No Thank You John is a good example. In this poem Rossetti uses the poetic device of apostrophe, that is addressing a fictional person or object that can’t answer back. Another example is Keats’s Ode on a Grecian Urn. Here, the fictional person is “Flora”, a woman who is always successful at the game of love.

Question 23

The key note

Answer 23

• This haunting and beautiful poem is typical of Christina Rossetti, with its mournful, depressed tone in the first stanza, but positivity represented by the singing “Robin” in the second. The poems ends on a questionning rather than hopeful note, with no resolution to the question “why not I?”
• structure - The poem comprises two stanzas of eight lines each. There are identical rhyme schemes following the pattern ABBA CDCD. The metrical rhythm is iambic tetrameters, that is, four metrical feet per line, where a iamb or foot is one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. This creates a regular pace that reflects the speaker’s mood — sad yet calm.
• language and imagery - The voice is probably that of the poet, using the first person singular pronoun “I”. The mood is initally mournful yet tinged with hope. The first stanza deals with the natural world, the seasons representing changes of mood. In the second stanza the capitalised “Robin” — a non-migratory bird that sings through the winter — is a metaphor for hope. The poem could be said to end on a positive note, yet the unanswered rhetorical question leaves a feeling of uncertainty and ambiguity.

Question 24

They desire a better country

Answer 24

• Christina Rossetti’s devout christianity pervades this poem. The title was inspired by Hebrews 11: 13-16, which states that believers desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. There are other references to Jesus as described in the Gospels and the New Jerusalem as described in Revelations 21:2. There is also a reference to Dante’s Paradiso, La Vita Nuova and a character called Love. Also to Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and the escape of Christian from the prison of the Giant Despair. The design of the poem is, on the face of it, simple; Stanza 1 is about the past; Stanza 2 is about the present stage of the Christian pilgrimage; Stanza 3 is a vision of the future hope which enables us to live faithfully in the present. However, this masks its complexity. What is interesting is that, despite Rossetti’s difficult life — constant illnesses and failed love affairs — she regrets nothing and has no wish to alter past mistakes.
• structure - The poem comprises three distinct stanzas in sonnet form. A sonnet is a formal structured verse of fourteen lines, with distinct rhyming pattern. Here the pattern is ABBA ABBA CDE DCE in the first stanza, with slight variations in the second and third stanzas. The metrical rhythm is iambic tetrameter, that is four iambs or metrical feet per line, where a iamb is made up of one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The result is a solemn, elegant tread. In each stanza there is a volta or “turn”, in which the idea first posed is altered and takes a new direction. The overall effect is dignified and serious, appropriate to the subject matter.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of a first person narrator, presumably the poet, using the first person singular pronoun “I”. The tone is solemn and thoughtful. A powerful impression is created by intertextual references of the most weighty kind and, of course, all related to Christianity given Rossetti’s devout nature; the Bible, Dante’s Paradiso, La Vita Nuova and Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, In terms of visual imagery, the dominant metaphor for heaven and closeness to God is expressed in terms of “glow”, “golden”, “light”, “glory glimmers”.

Question 25

Twice

Answer 25

• Composed in 1864, the poem entitled ‘Twice’ deals with two offers of love made by the speaker; one to an earthly lover who proves ambivalent, and the other to God. It is the latter that provides her with comfort. The rationale for the rejection is that he does not believe her to be ‘ready’ for such a commitment, or is not ready himself. Broken-hearted and depressed, she turns to God. She believes she will be secure with Him and commits her life to Him. Many of Rossetti’s poems focus around forsaken women. Rossetti’s poems express their struggle to find a voice in which they can communicate their distress. Many male Victorian poets present the man as a noble, chivalrous figure. However, Rossetti highlights the weaknesses in many men, and that women are not the ones wholly to blame for relational difficulties. She also challenges the sexual double standard.
• structure - The poem comprises six stanzas of eight lines each. The metrical rhythm is varied. In this poem particularly, Rossetti uses varying emphasis to draw attention to certain words or sounds which, in turn, reflect important events and emotions. One device is worth noting. An amphimacer is the term for a three-syllable foot arranged with a stress at each end. If the exclamation ‘O’ is to be read as a stressed syllable, then the phrase, ‘O my love’ and ‘O my God’ fit this pattern. The refrain is so dominant and powerful here that this uncommon technique is worth pointing out. Indentations reinforce the alternating statement and ‘answer’ structure. For example ‘As you set it down it broke — /Broke but I did not wince.’ There is a complex rhyme scheme. The first stanza is ABACDBDC, the others variations on this. The rhyming fourth and eighth lines give a satisfying sense of resolution at the end of each stanza.
• language and imagery - Two dominant ideas distinguish this poem; the heart and God. Rossetti expresses these in terms of a range of imagery — skylarks for happiness; refinement through fire. Also the reference to cornflowers to represent male commitment. In folklore, cornflowers were worn by young men in love. Also a man about to marry would wear blue flowers to warn other girls he was committed.

Question 26

Tune me o lord

Answer 26

• This is one of Rossetti’s devotional poems, that likens her faith to a musical instrument to be tuned to God’s love. It is an expression of the faith of a deeply religious young woman.
• structure - The poem comprises three stanzas; two quatrains with a three line stanza or tercet between, creating a satisfying balance. The metrical rhythm is iambic pentameter, that is five metrical feet or iambs per line, where a iamb is one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The exceptions are the final lines of stanzas one and three, which are iambic dimeter, that is two metrical feet. This has the effect of giving a prayer-like emphasis to the refrain “Tune me, O Lord”. The rhyme scheme is ABAB BBB ABAB, a regular pattern that, in itself, is harmonious.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of a first person narrator, we can assume the poet, using the first person singular, but addressing God directly in the second person “Thee”. The tone is optimistic and positive, unlike some of Rossetti’s sadder devotional poems, reflecting her depression and yearning for God through death. The dominant imagery is of music, whereby the poet seeks union with God, expressed in terms of “harmony” and “tune me”.

Question 27

Up hill

Answer 27

• The poem deals with the subject of life in terms of a difficult journey. Christina Rossetti faced challenges and struggles, notably two difficult romantic relationships, ill-health and family tragedy. ‘Up-hill’ imagines a conversation between two people that we may think of as a traveller and a guide. It is told so that the reader can easily identify with the protagonists. An ‘uphill struggle or battle’ is a common idiom that may have informed the title of Rossetti’s work. The expression and the poem are still very relevant today.
  One convincing interpretation is that, because the responder addresses the traveller as ‘my friend’, this un-named guide could be Jesus. Rossetti’s Victorian readers would have been familiar with the gospel of John 15:14 – 15 . Jesus tells his followers, You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. But the poem is suitably vague as to what the journey involves, who is undertaking it, the nature of the responder and the nature of the destination. It is for every reader to interpret in the light of their own faith and spiritual inclination. It therefore achieves universality; designed to provide comfort to everyone.
• structure - The poem consists of four verses with four lines each, known as quatrains. There are two perspectives of two distinct narrators, one who asks questions, and one who provides answers. These are distinguished from each other by the ABAB interlocking rhyme structure, where line ‘A’ is a question spoken by one narrator, and ‘B’ is an answer by the responder.
• language and imagery - The language is conversational and accessible, and flows easily, despite the somewhat erratic syllable count for each verse — a typical Rossetti characteristic. The metrical rhythm is very loosely iambic, alternating between pentameters, that is five iambs per line, and tetrameters, that is four iambs per line. However, this is varied to increase pace and provide emphasis. The question and answer format is used in religious teaching, forming a catechism. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer, with which Rossetti would have been familiar, contains several catechisms. By basing ‘Up-hill’ on a question and answer format, Rossetti achieves a conversational yet deeply religious tone, that contemporary readers would have related to.

Question 28

Vigil of St Bartholomew

Answer 28

• Barholomew was said to be the sixth of Jesus’s twelve apostles. His feast day is 24th August. According to tradition he is said to have been skinned alive and executed as punishment for spreading the gospel. Rossetti in the poem depicts the vigil that marks his martyrdom. The poem is unusual for Rossetti in that it is markedly positive and peaceful. This is in contrast to much of her religious poetry which is mournful and expresses longing for death. Rossetti was in poor health for much of her adult life and suffered depression, believed now to be the result of what was probably a thyroid condition. The tone of this poem, however, is gentle, focusing on the feelings of the vigilant people at prayer.
• structure - This follows the template of a Petrachan sonnet, with the volta at line eight/nine. Rhyme Scheme:
  Rossetti chose a rhyme scheme that follows the pattern ABBA, ABBA, CDE EDC, adhering strictly to the sonnet template. Note that lines eleven and twelve are consonantly rhymed.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of the poet, addressing God as if in prayer. The tone is serious and thoughtful, but positive. The metre is iambic pentameter, stately and rhythmic, that conveys an impression of dignity and seriousness. Shakespeare’s sonnets follow this pattern. This sonnet is characterised by repetition forming a refrain or anaphora at the beginning of the first four lines.

Question 29

Whatsoever is right

Answer 29

• This poem is a direct reference to the parable of the labourers in Matthew 20:1-16. The moral is generally taken to mean that those converted late in life are of equal value to God as those converted early. Rossetti has used this theme to suggest that humans may suffer and toil differently, but each human is “one in Christ” and can look forward to death and meeting their God. Rossetti’s poetry is characterised by yearning for death; it is never far away in any poem.
• structure - The poem comprises two octets or eight-lined stanzas. The rhyme follows a quite complex pattern in both stanzas; that is ABAB DCCD.
  The metre is iambic tetrameter, that is four iambs or metrical feet per line, where a iamb is made up of one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The exception is the last lines of both stanzas which are iambic pentameter, that is five metrical feet per line, to incorporate the plea to God.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of the poet addressing God. The tone is solemn, given the subject matter — suffering on earth and yearning to meet Christ in death. Life on earth is expressed through powerful imagery, a semantic field of tribulation — “rough”, “scourge”, “surge” in stanza one and “moans”, “fail” and “breaks the heart” in stanza two. Though these dominate the poem there are other skilfull techniques that are highlighted in the detailed annotations.

Question 30

Who hath despised the day of small things

Answer 30

• The title of this poem is an intertexual reference from the Old Testament Book of Zachariah 4-10. The English Standard Version reads as follows:
  For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. “These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth.” The essence of the chapter in the bible and the poem is that small beginnings are of large significance and precious in the eye of God. The sentiment is characteristic of the deeply religious Rossetti.
• structure - The poem is written here as two quatrains or stanzas of four lines each, although it is also published as an eight-lined poem. The rhyme scheme is ABAB ABAB. The metrical rhythm in both stanzas is three lines of iambic pentameter, that is five iambs or metrical feet per line where a iamb is made up of one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The fourth line in each stanza is iambic trimeter, that is three metrical feet per line. The effect of the shorter last line is to add emphasis.
• language and imagery - The voice is that of a third person speaker, we can assume the poet. The tone is optimistic and the mood gentle. The dominant imagery is of flowers, particularly the metaphor of violets as heralds of Spring. They are small modest flowers, but significant because they bloom early.