Lesson 8: Victorian poetry: Browning, Rossetti & Hopkins

What characterizes Victorian poetry (1830–1901)?

Victorian poetry is diverse, often morally and socially engaged, accessible, with clear diction.

It explores personal subjects, religion, doubt, social issues, and the tension between science and faith.

Innovation in form and style was common.

How does late-Victorian poetry differ from earlier Victorian poetry?

Late-Victorian/Aesthetic poetry (1860s–1901) focuses on beauty for its own sake, opposes didacticism, and emphasizes individual expression rather than social critique.

Symbolism and personal, interior themes are central.

What role does religion play in Victorian poetry?

Religion is central for many poets (Browning, Hopkins), used to explore moral, spiritual, and social questions.

Poets often express faith, doubt, or critique God’s role in human suffering.

Who was Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) and what defines her work?

Leading Victorian poet; wrote on love, social issues, morality, and politics.

Famous works include Sonnets from the Portuguese and The Cry of the Children.

Literature as social protest; innovative language and controversial topics.

Who was Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) and what defines her work?

Pre-Raphaelite poet; lyrical and narrative poetry; explored love, faith, temptation, and moral strength.

Famous work: Goblin Market.

Symbolism, fairy-tale and medieval inspirations, and attention to sound and imagery.

Who was Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) and what defines his work?

Jesuit poet known for sprung rhythm, inscape and instress, and blending nature with divine reflection.

Famous works: The Windhover, Pied Beauty.

Poems celebrate God in nature, energetic and musical in form.

Situate The Cry of the Children (1843) in its historical and literary context.

Browning critiques child labor during the Industrial Revolution, contrasting innocent natural life with the harsh industrial world.

Social protest poetry aimed to inspire empathy and moral responsibility.

What themes are central in The Cry of the Children?

Innocence lost, social injustice, death and mortality, faith and doubt, empathy and moral responsibility.

Situate Goblin Market (1862) in its literary context.

Rossetti uses fairy-tale narrative, Pre-Raphaelite imagery, and symbolism to explore temptation, desire, sisterhood, female strength, and Victorian moral concerns. Accessible poetry with deeper meanings.

What themes are central in Goblin Market?

Temptation and desire, corruption vs. purity, sisterhood and sacrifice, female resilience, critique of societal expectations of women.

Situate The Windhover (1918) in its literary context.

Hopkins celebrates a falcon’s flight as a metaphor for divine glory and human achievement, blending nature and spiritual reflection.

Early 20th-century posthumous publication marks its influence on modernist poetry.

What themes are central in The Windhover?

Divine glory, spiritual transcendence, nature as reflection of God, human struggle and achievement.

“Do ye hear the children weeping?” — what poem, date, and meaning?

The Cry of the Children (1843, Elizabeth Barrett Browning).

Children’s suffering is made audible; evokes moral responsibility and social critique of industrial labor.

“How long, O cruel nation, will you stand, to move the world, on a child’s heart?” — explain.

The Cry of the Children (1843, Browning).

Direct indictment of societal exploitation; questions moral and divine authority in industrial Britain.

“Eat me, drink me, love me” — what poem, date, and meaning?

Goblin Market (1862, Christina Rossetti).

Lizzie’s sacrifice redeems Laura; Christian allusion to Last Supper; symbolizes female solidarity and redemption.

“I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-” — explain.

The Windhover (1918, Gerard Manley Hopkins).

Falcon symbolizes Christ’s majesty; energetic diction conveys awe, divine presence, and human spiritual aspiration.

Compare Browning’s and Rossetti’s approach to Victorian themes.

Browning focuses on social protest and moral responsibility;

Rossetti emphasizes individual moral and spiritual experience through symbolism and fairy-tale imagery.

Compare Rossetti and Hopkins on nature and spirituality.

Rossetti uses nature symbolically to explore morality, temptation, and social norms;

Hopkins sees nature as a direct reflection of God, emphasizing inscape and spiritual insight.

How do Victorian poets address social injustice?

Browning (The Cry of the Children)

critiques child labor and societal hypocrisy; uses vivid imagery, rhetorical questions, and emotive diction to elicit empathy and inspire moral reflection.

How do Victorian poets depict female experience?

Rossetti (Goblin Market)

explores sisterhood, temptation, and societal expectations; celebrates female resilience and moral strength

combines fairy-tale narrative with social critique.

“Alas, alas, why do you gaze at me with your eyes, my children.” — what poem, date, and meaning?

The Cry of the Children (1843, Elizabeth Barrett Browning).

First line of the poem; alludes to Medea, emphasizing the horror and injustice of children’s suffering.

The line immediately addresses the reader, giving voice to the exploited children and setting the tone of mourning and social critique.

“Who is God that He should hear us, While the rushing of the iron wheels is stirred?” — explain.

The Cry of the Children (1843, Browning).

Children question God’s presence amid industrial oppression.

Highlights the conflict between faith and suffering, critiques societal neglect, and conveys the silencing effect of industrialization on innocence and prayer.