Babylon the Great - "Her heart lusts not for love..."

• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Zoomorphic Simile represents Babylon’s dangerous allure - beautiful yet lethal - Just as a panther seduces its prey with stealth before attacking, Babylon lures souls with her glamour before spiritually destroying them - Rossetti thus aligns feminine seduction with feral instinct, reinforcing the poem’s moral warning
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Zoomorphic Simile and in its lair, the panther lies in wait, embodying concealed aggression and the latent threat beneath calm surfaces - This mirrors how Babylon hides "plagues out of view", masking internal corruption with external splendour - The simile suggests sin's most potent weapon is its subtlety
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Zoomorphic Simile and Panthers were often associated in biblical and medieval texts with the devil or wildness untamed by divine law - By invoking the image of a spotted predator, Rossetti taps into deep-rooted Christian symbolism of bestial sin and diabolical temptation - It reinforces Babylon as an allegorical figure of spiritual rebellion
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Zoomorphic Simile and the panther, both graceful and deadly, becomes a metaphor for the archetypal femme fatale - Babylon, like the beast, entices with beauty while harbouring destructive power - This parallels Victorian anxieties about female sexuality, morality, and the subversion of patriarchal control
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Zoomorphic Simile and by comparing Babylon’s heart to an animalistic urge, Rossetti frames her as governed by base, uncontrollable instincts rather than reason or conscience - The panther serves as a metaphor for humanity’s fallen nature when detached from spiritual discipline - This interpretation aligns with the poem’s cautionary, didactic purpose - warning against surrendering to nature ungoverned by grace
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Personification and Rossetti subverts the traditional Christian idea of the heart as a symbol of divine love, grace, and compassion - This distortion reflects Babylon’s moral perversion - her desires are not rooted in spirituality but in violence and sin - The heart, a sacred site of feeling, becomes an emblem of depravity
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Personification exposes how internal corruption manifests in outward destruction - Babylon's evil is not superficial but begins at the core of her being - her very heart - Rossetti uses this internal locus of sin to show how moral decay is embedded deep within rather than merely acted out
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Personification gives the heart its own agency, suggesting that the capacity for sin resides within the self, not imposed externally - This portrayal aligns with Christian theology on free will and the soul’s responsibility for its own corruption - Babylon is not a victim of sin - she wills it
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Personification and as an allegorical figure, Babylon represents a corrupted collective humanity or system - The personified heart can be seen as the symbolic core of a sinful civilisation - a microcosm of widespread moral decay - Rossetti thus universalises the warning: it is not just Babylon who lusts, but any heart ungoverned by faith
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Personification anticipates later psychological conceptions of desire, portraying the heart as a site of primal urges - By separating the heart’s will from the person, she dramatizes the battle between the flesh and spiritual conscience - The phrase suggests that desire, when unchecked, can override reason and morality
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Repetitive Assonance and the repetitive long "o" and "u" vowel sounds in "love", "thro", "blood" and "lusts" create a heavy, brooding musicality - This sonic texture mirrors the moral weight and darkness of Babylon’s desires, sonically embodying the slow, creeping nature of evil and spiritual decay
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Repetitive Assonance mirrors the obsessive and cyclical nature of Babylon’s craving - The repetition of internal vowel sounds mimics the repetitive, insatiable quality of lust, suggesting that her desire is not momentary, but consuming and unending - "thro" and thro"
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Repetitive Assonance draws a disturbing parallel, collapsing the distinction between affection and violence - Rossetti uses assonance to blur the line between what should be sacred and what is profane, reflecting Babylon’s distortion of true emotional or spiritual connection
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Repetitive Assonance softens the line’s harsh imagery with a lulling, lyrical quality - much like Babylon herself, who seduces with beauty while concealing destruction - This tension between sound and meaning reinforces the poem’s allegorical theme: evil often arrives dressed in elegance, cloaking horror in harmony
• In 'Babylon the Great', the quote "Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro', for blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair", the use of Repetitive Assonance give the line an almost hypnotic rhythm, mimicking the cadence of a chant or incantation - This deepens the poem’s cautionary tone, as if Rossetti is invoking a ritualistic warning against temptation - reflecting the seductive pull of sin and the need for vigilance