what would I give Flashcards
what is the speaker/language of this poem?
- The speaker is mysterious and deeply depressed, expressing strong self-loathing.
- The reason for this sadness is unclear.
- The tone is sad, weary, and conflicted.
what is the rhyme/form of this poem?
- Three tercets (three-line stanzas) create a repetitive, cyclical structure—possibly referencing the Holy Trinity.
- Regular rhyme scheme: AAB, CCD, EEF. The third line has internal rhyme.
- Each final line has a comma, creating a pause for reflection.
- Written in iambic hexameter (six metrical feet per line), making it feel monotonous.
what are the themes of this poem?
Loss, sadness, abandonment, emotions, love, religious faith.
what is the context of this poem?
- Written at age 34 (c. 1864).
- Rossetti fell in love with Charles Bagot Cayley in the 1860s but rejected his marriage proposal due to his unorthodox Christian views.
- Possible link to this romantic crisis—longing for someone who shares her faith or seeking God.
- Experienced periods of depression, worsening with illness—this reflects the poem’s melancholy tone.
what are the pairings of this poem?
Up-Hill—both poems express a longing for something missing, possibly religious fulfillment.
piteous my rhyme is
twice? a xmas carol?
echo - the longing to feel again/stuck in suffering and wanting an escape
“what would I give for a heart of flesh to warm me through,/instead of this heart of stone ice-cold whatever I do”
- “Whatever” suggests exhaustion and frustration.
- Implies she would give up anything.
- “Warm” vs. “ice-cold” contrast what she desires vs. what she has.
- “Heart of flesh” alludes to Ezekiel’s biblical passage about God replacing a stony heart with a living one.
“hard and cold and small, of all hearts the worst of all.”
- Internal rhyme creates a compact summary of complex emotions.
- Polysyndeton (“and”) builds an overwhelming sense of suffering.
- “All” emphasizes the vast scale of her pain.
- Contrast between “hearts” and “hard” mirrors her inner conflict.
“what would I give for words, if only words would come;/but now in its misery my spirit has fallen dumb:”
- Introduces religious struggle—she seeks words, possibly to pray, but they fail her.
- Balanced structure (comma dividing two related clauses) reflects inner turmoil.
- “My spirit has fallen dumb” is deeply tragic, showing even faith offers no relief.
- “But now” grounds her in the present.
- “Dumb” suggests silence, foolishness, and inability to express herself.
“O, merry friends, go your way, I have never a word to say.”
- She feels isolated while her friends are happy, possibly marrying.
- Internal rhyme suggests she is trapped in her own thoughts.
- Frequent commas break up the line, reflecting emotional turmoil.
“what would I give for tears, not smiles but scaling tears”
- “Scaling tears” contrasts pain and catharsis—she craves emotional release but is unable to cry.
- This burning sensation could symbolize purging sin.
- Sibilance (“s”) mimics seeping sadness or water hissing on something hot.
“to wash the black mark clean, and to thaw the frost of years/to wash the stain ingrain, and to make me clean again.”
- “Black mark” symbolizes visible sin or guilt, possibly societal or spiritual.
- “Scalding tears” contrast with “frost of years”—her pain is expressed through extremes.
- Internal rhyme in the final line traps her in thoughts of self-loathing and unworthiness.
- “Black” was associated with sin in Rossetti’s time.
- “Thaw the frost” suggests a desire to break free from self-inflicted punishment.
- “Again” implies she once felt pure—perhaps after rejecting Cayley’s proposal—and longs to return to that state.
