poem overviews

• Some ladies dress in muslin full and white:

  • satirical poem that criticises men and women in Victorian society because of their fashion and snobbery.
  • vicious and mocking undertones.
  • details a Biblical flood in which they die due to their clothing.
  • petrarchan sonnet with a volta after the 8th line- Italian style sonnet.
  • iambic pentameter.
  • third person narrator with a reflective, mocking tone.
• Remember:

  • 1st person speaker detailing their death.
  • religious undertones in the acceptance of death, maybe because of the promise of Heaven.
  • iambic pentameter with irregular rhyme.
  • the structure becomes looser when the memory of the person addressed forgets the speaker.
  • sonnet form with irregular rhyming couplets.
• The World:

  • details the feminine world that men are tempted by and abuse, criticising Victorian men and the double standards of society.
  • personifies the Earth with contrast between night and day, perhaps symbolising erotic desire v holy living.
  • petrarchan sonnet.
  • third person narrator.
  • perhaps details life with faith v living in sin.
• Echo:

  • title references the echo of the past and memory.
  • 1st person speaker addresses someone gone, perhaps death or a break up, wants to remain in their thoughts and memory.
  • longing tone enhances the ambiguity.
  • link to religious struggles and Rossetti's broken engagements as she waits to be united in Heaven with her former love.
  • repetition to enforce longing.
• May:

  • details a happiness which is lost after the volta to the second stanza.
  • first octave has a looser form due to enjambment and is in iambic tetrameter.
  • second quintain is end-stopped, removing the rhythm and symbolising the lost love.
  • the 13 lines perhaps represent a sonnet cut short due to the loss of love possibility, perhaps through the death of a lover.
• A Birthday:

  • two octaves which detail life during love.
  • iambic tetrameter in the first stanza creates a lightness to the poem, creating a sense of happiness.
  • the opening lines of the second octave are in dactylic meter to emphasise her newfound place.
  • the last lines of each stanza are the same.
• An Apple Gathering:

  • narrative poem with 7 stanzas that explores the downfall of a fallen woman.
  • natural imagery used to metaphorially represent virginity and fertility.
  • the first 3 lines of each quatrain are iambic pentameter and the last lines are iambic trimeter.
  • contrast between the treatment of unpure men and women when they fall in society.
  • the shorter lines at the ends of stanzas could represent the lost love between the first person narrator and Willie.
• Maude Clare:

  • ballard form with quatrains that tell a story.
  • dialogue and the third person narrator allow the reader to understand the previous relationship with Maude Clare and the Lord, and the competition between the women.
  • criticises men who use women with no care for when their status falls in society.
  • imperatives make Maude Clare seem strong but Nell in her acceptance is also a strong woman.
• At Home:

  • regular octaves in iambic tetrameter with the last line of ths stanza in iambic trimeter.
  • the first person speaker is identified as different to the cheerful regularity of life of their friends as the speaker is dead.
  • themes of self-pitying and memory as the speaker allows the friends to be happy whilst wallowing in their sorrow.
• Up-Hill:

  • 2 voices within the poem, one questioning and one answering.
  • emphasises the theory of reserve where people should fight and work for their place in Heaven.
  • discloses the journey of life through the 4 quatrains and regular iambic pentameter and trimeter contrast.
  • links to the idea of religion as a choice.
• Goblin Market:

  • narrative, fairy-tale story of morality and women succeeding after being fallen women.
  • goblins are metaphorically men and the natural imagery symbolises corruption and sexuality.
  • heavily religious imagery with the message of sisterhood and temptation.
• What Would I Give?:

  • sad, longing tone for love.
  • perhaps inspired by Rossetti's spinster life when rejecting engagements.
  • themes of fallen women and lacking love due to broken spirit.
  • 3 tercets.
• Twice:

  • details the conflict between religion and love, she loses love and then finds religion so gains a purpose after the volta.
  • the speaker addresses her love in the first half and then God in the second.
  • anapestic dimeter in the bracketed lines.
• Memory:

  • the two sections of the poem explore how she rejected love for religion and then longs for love in the afterlife.
  • the two sections were written at different times in Rossetti's life and explores love vs faith.
  • the title refers to the love she had before faith.
  • links to the theory of reserve.
• A Christmas Carol:

  • religious devotional poem that details life before Christ and the change when Jesus was born to have something to live for.
  • each octave ends with dactylic monometer to emphasise the change Jesus makes and his power in the meter contrasting the rest of the stanzas.
  • duality in temperature imagery shows how the world becomes warmer with Jesus's birth and love.
• Passing and Glassing:

  • theme of negativity through the withering natural imagery.
  • metaphors of fading beauty emphasises the importance of wisdom and wit as people mature.
  • the 3 octaves could represent the past, present and future.
• "A Helpmeet for Him":

  • the title is a quote from the Bible and helpmeet in Hebrew means saviour, perhaps linking women and God- like Eve's power in some readings of the Bible.
  • syntactic spacing places 'women' at the start of lines puts them at the forefront of the poem.
  • imagery allows men and women to seem balanced, maybe criticising the extensive differences between the genders in Victorian society.
• Froth on the face of the deep:

  • religious devotional poem that says without faith, there is nothing to live for.
  • the stanza is written in dactylic meter.
  • similes are used to emphasise the meaningless nature of life without God.
• Our Mothers, lovely women pitiful:

  • petrarchan sonnet in the Italian style of an octave and then sestet.
  • contrast between old and new generations allow for Rossetti to portray lessons of being more miserable then joyful and using religion to guide them.
  • the second stanza sees a shift to older women in the afterlife who although they seem sad, are actually happy and accepting of their role.
  • painful days lead to Heaven and are accepted under iambic pentameter in the final stanza.
• Babylon the Great:

  • petrarchan sonnet that warns against sinful promiscuity.
  • the title references the whore of Babylon in Hell and rebellion against God by King Nimrod.
  • the imperatives are sexual and suggest lustful sins.
  • it warns readers of pre-marital sex through animalistic imagery.