Form - Our Mothers

• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as a Petrarchan Sonnet, the structured form - with its octave and sestet - mirrors the poem’s emphasis on discipline, patience, and a life lived according to moral and religious "rule" - Just as the women in the poem live ordered, faithful lives, the formal structure reinforces the idea that spiritual strength arises from order and restraint - The sonnet form thus becomes a symbolic extension of the virtues being praised
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as a Petrarchan Sonnet, this traditionally divides into a problem (octave) and a resolution or reflection (sestet) - Rossetti uses this to mirror a journey from reverent recollection of the dead to a deeply personal, almost anguished reflection on the speaker’s own spiritual state - This structure allows the emotional pivot to be delicately staged, echoing a move from admiration to self-doubt and yearning
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as a Petrarchan Sonnet, this has long associations with love, loss, and idealisation - elements central to elegiac poetry - By choosing this form, Rossetti taps into a tradition that dignifies grief and sanctifies memory, giving the women in the poem a near-sacred reverence - The form elevates the content, transforming remembrance into a ritual act of poetic devotion
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as a Petrarchan Sonnet, Rossetti, well-versed in traditional poetic forms, deliberately employs the Petrarchan sonnet to showcase her control over form while delivering emotionally intense and spiritually reflective content - This allows her to work within a recognisable framework while subtly reshaping its thematic purpose - from romantic longing to spiritual reverence - It places her firmly within the literary canon while also asserting a distinctly feminine and devotional voice
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as a Petrarchan Sonnet, this structure symbolically reflects the temporal division between earthly life and eternal life in Paradise - The octave, focused on the remembered actions of the women, grounds the poem in earthly experience; the sestet shifts into a metaphysical reflection on the afterlife and divine reunion - This duality mirrors the Christian belief in the continuation of the soul and the lasting influence of the virtuous dead
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as an Elegy, it does not linger in despair but reorients grief through a Christian lens, transforming sorrow into spiritual instruction - The poem mourns the loss of “our mothers” and “our sisters,” but also presents their deaths as gateways to Paradise, where tears are “wiped away” - This movement from earthly mourning to heavenly hope aligns with the Victorian tendency to spiritualise death and emphasise the soul’s redemption
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as an Elegy, this functions as a collective act of mourning, with the plural pronoun “our” indicating shared memory and reverence - Rossetti constructs a space in which familial and communal bonds are preserved beyond death, strengthening the connection between generations - The elegiac tone invites reflection not only on individual loss but on the enduring moral legacy of those who came before
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as an Elegy, the poem idealises the departed, presenting them as paragons of virtue who endured life’s trials with patience and grace - In this way, the elegy becomes more than a lament - it functions as a moral exemplar, urging the living to emulate the dead - Their remembered actions form a spiritual model, turning remembrance into a tool for personal reform
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as an Elegy, unlike overtly passionate or dramatic elegies, Rossetti’s tone is meditative and contained, mirroring the Victorian value of emotional restraint, especially in religious contexts - The poem’s gentle cadence and subdued sorrow reflect a disciplined grief, channelled through faith - This quiet mourning enhances the dignity of the dead and the seriousness of the speaker’s internal reflection
• The poem 'Our Mothers' is written as an Elegy, this subtly stages a one-sided dialogue between the speaker and the dead, wondering whether “they see us in our painful day” - This speculative address to the afterlife is a classic feature of the elegiac tradition, allowing the poem to bridge temporal and eternal realms - It creates a haunting but hopeful tension between absence and imagined presence, reinforcing the idea that love and influence persist after death