The Health of Christina Rossetti

• Rossetti’s constant battle with illnesses - from bronchitis and anaemia in the mid-1840s to Graves’ disease diagnosed in 1871 - exposed her to the fragility of life from an early age - Her poetry often meditates on death not with fear, but with a calm acceptance rooted in religious faith - The frequent appearance of death and the afterlife in her work reflects her personal familiarity with physical suffering
• Facing worsening health and ultimately breast cancer in 1892, Rossetti turned increasingly towards religious devotion and spiritual endurance - Her poetry reveals a belief that earthly suffering could be redemptive, preparing the soul for salvation - Physical illness deepened her focus on patience, renunciation, and hope for divine mercy
• Chronic illness forced Rossetti into a more isolated, contemplative life, withdrawing from many public activities and social engagements - This isolation is mirrored in the quiet, introspective tone of many of her poems, where the speaker often stands apart from the bustling world - Her weakened body became a symbol of earthly limitation contrasted with spiritual aspiration
• Rossetti’s personal experience of her body’s decay - culminating with her breast cancer diagnosis and return of the disease in 1893 - heightened her awareness of the contrast between the perishable body and the promise of eternal life - Her poetry often opposes the fleeting nature of earthly existence with the unchanging glory of the divine - This tension gives her religious poems an emotional urgency rooted in lived experience
• Repeated encounters with illness and the physical limits of the body encouraged Rossetti to renounce worldly pleasures and ambitions - Her emphasis on rejecting earthly attachments in favour of spiritual rewards is not simply theoretical but grounded in her own experience of bodily weakness - Through suffering, Rossetti came to view detachment as a pathway to spiritual freedom
• Christina Rossetti was diagnosed with Graves' Disease in 1871
• In 1871, Christina Rossetti was diagnosed with Graves' Disease
• In the mid-1840's, Christina Rossetti was diagnosed with Bronchitis, Anaemia and Angina
• In 1892, Christina Rossetti was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and operated on for it
• In 1893, Christina Rossetti was diagnosed with Breast Cancer again and died in 1894