Up-Hill

• AO1: In ‘Up-Hill’, Rossetti explores… 

  • Godly love
  • A divine journey that is allusive of salvation
  • Perseverance of physical endeavours and turmoils
• AO3:

  • Christina Rossetti was no stranger to struggle in life, and her poem, Up-hill, seems to call up her perspective on the concept
  • For example, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis at a young age and was alive while her siblings died
  • She was 28 years old when she wrote this and began becoming known for her devotional poetry.
• Rhyme Scheme

  • ABAB symbolic of how if you talk to God, you will be answered
  • Question and answer dialogue between Christian and God
  • Omnipresence of God
  • Questions follow iambic pentameter
  • Constraints of sin
  • Three stanzas
  • God's glory
• Structure

  • Varied sentence length
  • The unpredictable nature of life
  • Juxtaposing with the structured lines + rhyme scheme
  • The omnipresence of God and his plan
• Form

  • Stichomythic exchange - 'A' is a speaker and 'B' is another
  • In the question and answer structure of the poem, Rossetti draws inspiration from greek stichomythia in order to communicate a power dynamic that is perhaps indicative of the dependance of women on men in the victorian era, or victorian's dependance on God for guidance
• Does the road wind up-hill all the way?

  • in media res - reflective on an ongoing journey / proposition - the continuous struggle of life / - test in Christ-  Question - Proverbs 3;5 - ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart. And do not lean on your our understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.’
  • ‘Narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.’ (Matthew 7:14)
• Yes, to the very end.

  • alliteration - unity / full stop - the definitive nature of God  / end - finding your faith
• “Will the day’s journey take the whole long day? / From morn to night, my friend.”

  • The reader is placed amidst the speaker’s inner battle. urgency = crave these answers now, sense of exhaustion and despair.
  • ‘My friend’ - sense of familiarity and comfort - unconditional love from God. We are not just servants of Christ
  • Juxtaposition. The “long day,” in contrast to simply “the day” - self explanatory, speaker knows the answer
  • symbol of life to death - omniscient nature of God
• But is there for the night a resting-place?  

  • conjunction - innate human doubt. / ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Matthew 11:28
• A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.

  • metaphor - religion as a safe haven / juxtaposition of perspectives - the futility of man -  coin lid 
• “May not the darkness hide it from my face? / You cannot miss that inn.”

  • The first speaker is unsure + lacks confidence; the second, by contrast, is certain- odd experience as reader alternate between fear and confidence in every line - portrays one journey through two opposite viewpoints - yet easy to follow and understand.
  • “Inn” is a biblical allusion to the nativity sacrifice of jesus - the inevitable nature of death - death as the only salvation / definitive + direct address - the personal and intimate love of God / ‘i knit you in your mother’s womb’ - tailored for the speaker
• “Then must I knock, or call when just in sight? / They will not keep you standing at that door”

  • Link to ‘Winter: My Secret’ and ‘Shut Out’ - symbolism of doors
  • collective pronoun - omnipresence of the trinity - reflects the barriers that Jesus went through - ‘there was no room for them’ - motif of doors
  • ‘Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’  - Matthew 7:7
• “Will there be beds for me and all who seek? / Yea, beds for all who come.”

  • Biblical allusion to John 14:2 (“My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”) Reflects God’s unconditional love for mankind.
  • The kingdom of heaven - hope  / wider commentary on worldly goods and achievements / ‘there is neither gentile nor Jew, slave nor free, man nor woman, for they are all one in the eyes of the lord.  - the unification of man 
• What does the title suggest:

  a struggle with faith but also the glory of Christ