Beneath Christina Rossetti’s poetry a subtext of conflict between the world of temptation and the divine kingdom exists. Hugely aware of her own and others desires and downfalls her poetry is riddled with fear, guilt and condemnation however her works are not two dimensional and encompass a myriad of human concerns expanding beyond the melancholy to explore love and fulfilment.
The poem ‘Amor Mundi’ commences with a melodic almost seductively smooth rhythm. The easy rhythm of ‘going’, ‘flowing’ and ‘blowing’ mirrors the decent of the two speakers as they seem to effortlessly proceed along the ‘downhill path’. The downhill path is further exemplified as effortless and desirable as it offers an escape from the uphill path. Uphill with all its connotations of hard work and strain is deemed too difficult
Downhill often has connotations of degradation and immorality but this omen is ignored as it is rendered immaterial by the easy decent offered by the downhill path. The poem continues in its promisingly upbeat tone into the second stanza as it appears that the promise of the downhill path has come into fruition. ‘The two ease together in glowing august weather’ both the words ‘glowing’ and ‘together’ have exceptionally positive connotations. The air has a distinct sweetness as even the natural world seems to lead the couple down the road with ‘the honey breathing heather’ that lay to their left and right make it appear as though the air is thick with sweetness. While the repetition of the ‘h’ sound gives the poem an airy quality and reminds the reader of the alliteration of ‘west wind’ again drawing attention to the way the natural world appears to be encouraging the couple. ‘Her swift feet seem to float’, the soft alliteration of the ‘f ‘adds to the feeling of ease and floating while the repetition of the ‘t ‘sound at the end of each word adds to the quickness of the decent as the words are
The short epic poem the Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti resembles a fairytale because of the goblins and the happy ending of the united sisters, however the metaphors and allegory of fruit is ambiguous for different interpretations of drugs, sexual pleasures, temptation to sin, etc. The poem is broken into four major sections- temptation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Many people had mixed feelings toward the poem; some were even shocked of the Goblin Market because of how dark it is since Rossetti is usually linked to children novels and nurseries. The target audiences is not children but adolescents, as this poem is a merely a stage to warn young women about temptation and desires.
As characters in the poem are literally snow bound, they find that the natural occurrence actually serves a relaxing and warming purpose, one that brings together family. This effect is further achieved through the use of meter throughout the work as a whole. In its simplistic yet conversational tone, the author uses meter to depict the result that nature has forced upon these humans, who are but a small sample size that actually is representative of society that that time. Due to nature, the characters can talk, represented by the conversational meter, and thus, they can bond within the family. A larger representation of this more specific example can be applied to a more general perspective of human’s relationship with the natural world. Although “Snowbound” captures what humans do as a result of nature, it can also represent a larger picture, where nature appears at the most opportune times to enhance relationships from human to human. In “snowbound,” this is symbolized by the fire, “Our warm hearth seemed blazing free” (Whittier 135). This image relays a spirited, warm, mood full of security, which is expertly used by the author to show how fire, a natural phenomena, can provide such beneficial effects on humans. This very occurrence exemplifies how such a miniscule aspect of nature can have such a profound effect on a family, leaving the reader wondering what nature and its entirety could accomplish if used as a
With heavy literary influence, it is no wonder that Rossetti got her start when writing her very first poem at the age of eleven. With the decline of her father’s health at the age of thirteen, she witnessed horrific scenes, introducing ideas of death, decay, and mutability into her poetry. Most of her poems at this time had themes of hopelessness. Though she experienced a bout of dark times early on in her life, she began turning out of it and started to write of subjects relating to love and happier times (Packer, 22-23). During this time, she had just accepted the proposal of marriage from a man by the name of James Collinson. In her work, she talks a great deal of his personality (Packer, 33). Unfortunately, this engagement didn’t last until marriage. In her brother’s writings, the termination of their relationship was credited to religious qualms on his part, to which she was unable to reconcile with. He declared himself as Catholic, while she was a devout High Anglican (Packer 41). Rossetti’s religion played a significant role in her writings, and subjects of such com...
Christina Rossetti was a pivotal key in the foundations of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which can be seen, throughout her poetry. Rossetti, as a follower of the Pre-Raphaelite’s, endorsed ideas of unrequited love, acceptance of human mortality and redemption. These ideals both endorsed and challenged the Victorian morals of her era as Victorian morality was focused on repression, class structures, and religion often conflicting with the sexual desire and questioning nature of Rossetti’s poems. The poem Echo is a reflection of Rossetti’s view on the romance and grief in her life through her unwavering faith in religion that will reunite her with her love. Through her desire of a recreation of love in the poem, it is both accepted and challenged through her religious beliefs as the purity of distance in
...fall of snow and the unremitting “sweep” of “easy wind” appear tragically indifferent to life, in turn stressing the value of Poirier’s assessment of the poem. Frost uses metaphor in a way that gives meaning to simple actions, perhaps exploring his own insecurities before nature by setting the poem amongst a tempest of “dark” sentiments. Like a metaphor for the workings of the human mind, the pull between the “promises” the traveller should keep and the lure of death remains palpably relevant to modern life. The multitudes of readings opened up through the ambiguity of metaphor allows for a setting of pronounced liminality; between life and death, “night and day, storm and heath, nature and culture, individual and group, freedom and responsibility,” Frost challenges his readers to delve deep into the subtlety of tone and come to a very personal conclusion.
In this essay I will show how the Song of Songs implies the philosophical ideas that the definition of beauty is not dependent upon society’s prejudice or taste; that it is most precious when it is protected and guarded; and that with edenic love comes maximal blessing. The book exists as an ancient poem of inspired literature, where the author paints different interactions between two lovers: a Shulamite woman, and a shepherd who is known as “the beloved” (2:3).
“la belle dame sans merci” was written April 21, 1819 by John Keats. A Romantic poet who despite his reputation as being one of the most beloved poets of all time, was not well received during his short lived life. In fact Keats reputation didn’t grow till after his death near the end of the nineteenth century. He is now considered one of the key figures in the second generation of the romantic movement. Keats major works did not focus on religion, ethnics, morals, or politics. He wrote mostly of sensational experiences about the richness of life. Though experiences may be pleasurable at first they don’t always have fairytale endings, sometimes the pleasures of life can become overwhelming, such is the theme of Keats ballad “La belle dame sans merci”.
The poets integrated ?metaphysical conceits? as focal parts of these poems. Along with these, they used effective language as a basis for their convincing arguments, they included subjects of periodical importance (e.g. ?courtship? and ?religion?), and use very clever structures that are manipulated in order to make the poem read in the desired way. The very clear indication of the theme in question was strongly aided by the way in which the personas portrayed the emotions they felt and the way they showed their attitudes towards the subject. Considering all these factors, the poets made critical arguments to the mistresses in order to alter their views, thus changing their minds, on denying the poets the sex that they desired so strongly.
...a silence deep and white” (Line,4) they are talking about how the white snow is beautiful and, how it looks like to me this is a love of nature to some maybe not.Last one is Intuition over fact in this quote “Father,who makes the snow?” (Line,22) says his daughter, “And told of the good All father” (Line,23) and lastly “Who cares for us here below” (Line,24) he is talking about and all father which i believe he is talking about god,and this is a great characteristic for this poem.
‘Pied Beauty’ and ‘A Birthday’ are two poems that explore creation through the author’s portrayal of creation. Hopkins is a religious man, who sees things as God’s creations and its inner and outer beauty, where as Rossetti sees creation as life and love, and how they affect her. Hopkins appreciates and bows down to God for all of His beautiful and striking creations that God has spread all over the world. It is as if he is depicting God as an artist and His creations as a painted canvas board on which he can draw beauty and simple things. In ‘A Birthday’, Rossetti looks at the creation of new love that she has now found. She is overjoyed because her love is shared and wants to make a new beginning with this person. A Birthday is filled with joy, cheerfulness and expectation of
“The Road Not Taken” examines the struggles people run into when they come to a place in their life where a life altering decisions has to be made. The man who is described in this poem is traveling when he comes upon “two roads diverged” (1). He then has to choose which path he will take to continue on his journey. After standing at the diversion for a while, he knows he has to make a final decision. One path was worn down and “bent in the undergrowth” (5), so he took the other path, which was described as “perhaps the better claim/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (6-7). The man of the poem begins to ponder about a time when he will be telling his story of the path he took. Although we are not sure if the man regrets his decision or is relieved, he lets us know taking the road less traveled “has made all the difference” (20).
We get the idea that the poem starts out in the fall, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" (5). The season fall represents the year coming to an end, and e...
Rossetti shows us the woman being painted as many different things. Although she is just a painting, the woman symbolizes how the artist views women in real life: as objects. Irony is used when the woman is painted as “a queen”(5). She is put on a pedestal in a position of power, yet she is only described as being “in [an] opal or ruby dress”(5), cementing her role as an ornament. The ruby symbolizes passion and perhaps promiscuity. Opal is a white stone that reflects many colors. White symbolizes purity; while the different colors reflected symbolize how her meaning can change, and how the artist controls her identity and can make her fit any persona he desires. The woman is also depicted as a “nameless girl”(6), indicating her identity is not important to the artist. It also shows that he does not personally know the women he’s painting, but only their looks, affirming that he bases their value off of their appearances. Lastly, the artist portrays a woman as “a saint [and] an angel”(7) and compares her to the “moon”(11), an allusion to Artemis, the goddess of virginity. In this painting, she is established as a pure virgin, which was a requirement of the time period Rossetti lived in. However, because it is one of the fantasies the artist creates, and the poem antagonizes him, this line also expresses the idea that a woman’s purity should not define her. He makes the innocent virgin and the licentious queen the only ways women can be viewed. Yet, they are the same to him. Lacking depth, their physical description is the only thing giving them any meaning. Rossetti describing the portraits conveys the idea that no matter the position in society; or what their actual personalities are like, women are just blank canvases for men to project their fantasies onto. Uninterested in a real person, the artist worships the idea of a
Robert Browning’s poem, ‘Andrea del Sarto’ presents the reader with his views on the painter’s life, an artist who has lost faith in the Parnassian ideal of living for art, and now has to use art as a living. The poem looks at the darker side of the painter when he was older, and expresses a lot about Browning as well, and how he thought his work was perceived, and the context of his life and times. The poem covers many ideas and themes, which not only create a powerful poem, but also create commentary from Browning’s prerogative of his own situation. The poem epitomizes Browning’s work, looking at a real figure in history, from Browning’s own perspective, in a real state of affairs. Although ‘Del Sarto’ might have been regarded as ‘The Faultless painter’ in his time, on the inside he had to repress a struggle. As historian Vasari pointed out, a ‘certain timidity of spirit’ that stopped him from gaining true recognition as one of the greats alongside ‘Leonard, Rafael, Agnolo’. This could be said to express Browning’s view of audience, since his wife was much more successful than him. In this essay I will be looking at the poem, and how it relates to Browning and the time it was written in.
The speaker communicates many things in the first stanza of the poem. The first line, ?Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,? uses imagery with the color yellow, the color of gold, to show that the speaker sees an opportunity ahead of him. The two roads symbolizes the choices and consequences he must choose. The next line, ?And sorry I could not travel both,? illustrates how difficult it is to make a choice. It is impossible not to wonder what could happen by choosing the other road and what he could be missing out on. ?And being one traveler long I stood,? shows how the speaker would like to be in two places at once. Unable to accomplish this, he takes a long time to decide on what he should do. Finally, the speaker describes studying the first option, looking as far into the future as he possibly could with the lines, ?And looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth.?