Context/Abt the poet

• Rossetti wrote many poems, covering Romantic beliefs and ideals, religious themes and poems for children.
• Her brother was Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Rossetti, and she had a link to Lord Byron through their mutual friend John Polidori
• She was religious and became deeply involved in the Church of England later in her life
• She wrote the words to the Christmas carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter'
• She had 3 offers of marriage in her life, but refused them all
• She suffered from Graves disease, and eventually died due to recurring breast cancer