Structure - A Birthday

• The poem 'A Birthday' uses Anaphora ("My heart"), this heightens the emotional intensity, placing the speaker’s inner world at the forefront of the poem - It reinforces how consumed she is by the overwhelming joy and fulfilment brought by love’s arrival - This anaphora mimics the rhythm of a heartbeat, aligning language with the pulse of feeling
• The poem 'A Birthday' uses Anaphora ("My heart"), Rossetti creates a refrain that resembles a sacred chant or liturgy, aligning emotional expression with religious ritual - The speaker becomes a celebrant of her own spiritual or romantic transformation - This liturgical repetition elevates her joy into an act of worship
• The poem 'A Birthday' uses Anaphora ("My heart"), in a Victorian context where female voices were often suppressed, the repeated use of "my heart" boldly asserts the speaker’s subjectivity and agency - She does not defer to a male voice or external force; instead, she centres her personal experience as valid and powerful - The anaphora acts as a declaration of emotional ownership and inner authority
• The poem 'A Birthday' uses Anaphora ("My heart"), this allows Rossetti to layer a series of rich, evolving similes that build towards a climax of joy - Each "my heart" introduces a new, heightened image - bird, tree, shell - constructing an upward trajectory of feeling - This crescendo leads to the final declaration: that love surpasses all poetic comparisons
• The poem 'A Birthday' uses Anaphora ("My heart"), this blurs the boundary between romantic and spiritual devotion, as "my heart" can be read as both an emotional and a soul-centred response - It enables Rossetti to keep the addressee of her love ambiguous - whether human or divine - while maintaining an intimate tone - Thus, repetition becomes a tool for ambiguity and duality, embodying both sensual and sacred dimensions
• The poem 'A Birthday' is written as a Euphony, created through soft consonants and long vowel sounds, mirrors the speaker’s sense of internal harmony - Words like “singing bird”, “watered shoot”, and “halcyon sea” roll off the tongue fluidly, evoking a calm, blissful tone - The melodious rhythm reflects how perfectly the speaker’s emotional world aligns with the arrival of love
• The poem 'A Birthday' is written as a Euphony, the poem’s musicality, shaped by balanced meter and alliteration, gives it the tone of a lullaby or hymn - This soothing soundscape reinforces the interpretation of love as sacred and tender, almost like a devotional prayer - The euphony thus elevates love into something pure, innocent, and spiritually resonant
• The poem 'A Birthday' is written as a Euphony, Rossetti’s soft, flowing sounds reflect the natural imagery she evokes - singing birds, trees laden with fruit, and a paddling shell in a calm sea - The poem sounds like nature itself: gentle, rhythmic, and alive with organic movement - Euphony becomes the aural expression of the poem’s rich, fertile landscape
• The poem 'A Birthday' is written as a Euphony, this enhance the sensory quality of the poem, appealing to touch, taste, and sight through language that is pleasing to the ear - Phrases like “purple dyes”, “silver grapes”, and “silk and down” sound as sumptuous as they feel, invoking the pleasure of fulfilled desire - In this way, euphony supports the sensual celebration at the poem’s core
• The poem 'A Birthday' is written as a Euphony, the sound patterning builds a sense of gentle momentum, echoing the rising joy of the speaker - The consistent meter and musicality give the poem a floating, lilting quality, as if the speaker is ascending emotionally - This auditory uplift mirrors the thematic journey - from simple joy to exalted celebration