Rossetti summary

• From the Antique


  -Speaker is tired of life and the burdens that come with being a woman

  -She yearns for annihilation, wishing for a world where she did not exist

  -The poem conveys themes of futility and longing for escape from societal constraints
• No, thank you, John


  -The speaker rejects John's persistent romantic advances with firmness and clarity

  -She asserts she right to say no, emphasising friendship over unwanted affection

  -Highlights female independence and personal boundaries
• Maude Clare


  -Confronts her ex-lover and his new bride at their wedding, expressing lingering hurt

  -She contrasts her passionate past relationship with the brides more reserved love

  -The poem explores themes of love, betrayal and the tension between social norms and individual emotions
• Shut out

  -Speaker describes being barred from a beautiful garden symbolising loss and separation

  -She mourns what she has lost but resolves to find solace in small, limited comforts

  -The poem explores themes of exclusion, longing, and resilience int he face of adversity
• Up-Hill


  -The poem portrays life as an uphill journey, filled with struggles and questions about faith

  -Through dialogue, it assures the traveler of rest and comfort at the journey's end, symbolising eternal life

  -Themes of perseverance, faith and the promise of salvation dominate the poem
• Goblin Market


  -Two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, encounter goblin merchants selling tempting, enchanted fruits

  -Laura succumbs to temptation, consuming the fruit whic leaves her cursed and weakened

  -Lizzie sacrifices herself confronting the goblins to save her sister

  -Lizzie's act of love and purity restores Laura's health and redeems her

  -the poem explores themes of temptation, sacrifice, sisterly love, and redemption