Rossetti: poems that haven't come up

Remember 1849 p16

• "Remember me when I am gone away,"

• The speaker encourages the unseen reader (supposed to be her lover) to remember her after her death, repeatedly asking them to. However there's a transition at the end of the poem where she tells her lover she wants him to remember her but not if it means they'll be sad.

• Enjambment, repetition, anaphora, metaphors, euphemisms (for death), alliteration, end-stops, monosyllabism, paradox, apostrophe, caesura, assonance

Maude Clare 1857-8 p55

• "Out of the church she followed them"

• A verse tale that comments on how powerless women are in Victorian society. Depicts the story of a wedding attended by Maude Clare of Nell and Thomas. Thomas seems to be in two minds about marrying Nell, and Maude Clare gives back a gift (her virginity) to Thomas as a symbol of their relationship.

• Media res, anaphora, enjambment, symbolism (name and floral), personal possessive pronouns, assonance, caesura, dialogue, imagery, juxtaposition, metaphor, parallelism, repetition, simile, alliteration

At Home (1858) p57

• "When I was dead, my spirit turned"

• The plight of a ghost who's kept separate from happiness, friends and her no longer possible future as a result of her death. It begins with a speaker describing what it was like when she was first dead, returning home and observing her friends (who were under a tree, eating fruit and drinking wine, discussing their plans for tomorrow). Now that the speaker is dead, she's trapped in the past and her own home where her surroundings are all the same as they were when she was alive, however she has changed irreparably.

• Euphemisms (for death), sibilance (haunting), semantic field of sensory discomfort, lexical field of fruit, alliteration (e.g. /p/ mimics the sound of a mouth sucking and chewing food), symbolism, parallelism, repetition

Goblin Market 1859 p67

• "Morning and evening / Maids heard the goblins cry:"

• The story of two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, who encounter goblin merchants selling alluring fruit. Laura succumbs to temptation and buys the fruit, leading to a tragic transformation, while Lizzie warns against the goblins and bravely confronts them to save her sister. The poem explores themes of temptation, seduction, sacrifice, and sisterly love. 

• Enjambment (loose structure which reflects the sisters' lack of control in their situation and their own bodies), alliteration, anaphora, omniscient narrator (resonates with features of fairy-tales and folklore genres), onomatopoeia, personification, allusion, simile

Memory 1st part: 1857, 2nd part: 1865 p112

• "I nursed it in my bosom while it lived," … "I have a room whereinto no one enters"

• Sacrificing earthly love for faith, revealing a journey from grief to hopeful reunion in the afterlife. The first part is written in 1857, the second 1865. Despite the passing of time, the love still lives on "buried yet not dead". Explores Rossetti's faith and the length she will go to devote herself, a meditation on love, loss and the longing for a potential reunion in the afterlife, encapsulates the complex interplay between desire and self-discipline within the context of Victorian values.

• Personal/object pronouns, repetition, structural parallelism, maternal imagery, caesura, end stops, repetition, anaphora, exclamatory line, tone, atmosphere, semantic field, shift from past to present tense, symbolism (seasons)

Passing and Glassing pub.1881 p156

• "All things that pass / Are woman's looking-glass;"

• A commentary on the ageing of women and deterioration of beauty. However even though something has change it doesn't mean it's lost its worth, womankind doesn't need to subscribe to societal standards of value and beauty where there is still much to be gained through ageing, such as maturity and wisdom.

• Anaphora, refrains, imagery, semantic field, modal verb "must", connotations "laid" (to rest/death), enjambment, flower imagery (symbolism of roses - passion/love, commentary on women/beauty as fragile and to be observed/be beautiful + the impermanence of youth/beauty), fruit imagery ("fallen peach" - fresh, ripe; euphemism for sexuality + "fallen" - bruises, rot, decay, religious imagery - original sin), positive vs negative imagery - not innocent/naïve anymore, gained wisdom/maturity. Collective plural pronoun "our"

As froth on the face of the deep 1893 p184

• "As froth on the face of the deep, / As foam on the crest of the sea,"

• A poem that describes the futility of life if it's not dedicated to God and the importance of having God in one's life. The images are generally quite abstract, but bring the reader from the intangible to the recognisable.

• Repetition, anaphora, resolution, end-stop, assonance, fricatives, simile, symbolism, sea/water imagery then sleep and food imagery, oxymoronic "dreams" "waking" (God/faith penetrates all aspects of life), exclamatory "O"

Babylon the Great pub. 1893 p191

• "Foul is she and ill-favoured, set askew:"

• A Petrarchan sonnet depicting the tempting nature of women and the potential to lead men into sin and corruption. It serves as a warning to lead a virtuous life and steer away from immoral acts.

• Third person (universal warning), inversion of phrase "Foul is she", imperative + repetition "Gaze not upon her", anastrophe

themes of Remember

• Death, legacy and remembrance

• Isolation and life after death

• Love, memory and grief

• Mortality

themes of Maude Clare

• Illicit/illegitimate love

• The inconstancy of human love

• Betrayal

• Gender and sexuality

• Roles of women, social expectations

• Purity vs corruption

• Persecution of women, sexism + double standards

themes of At Home

• Temptations of self-indulgence and pleasure

• The vanity of earthly pleasures

• Loss of life and future

• Isolation and exclusion in death

• Memory

• Mortality, death and denial

themes of Goblin Market

• Physical fulfilment over religious devotion 

• The dangers of unchecked desire and hedonism

• The destructive nature of certain temptations

• The strength/nurturing/healing of sisterhood

• Fallen women - illicit/illegitimate sex

• Gender and sexuality - role of women

• Sexual temptation, exploitation and seduction

themes of Memory

• Sacrifice/renunciation of earthly love for faith

• Rejection of human connection

• Religion, spirituality, the afterlife

• Ageing

• Coming to terms with loss, journey from grief

themes of Passing and Glassing

• The deterioration of beauty

• The inevitability of ageing/passing out of one's prime

• Gender and sexuality

• Beauty/vanity vs wisdom/maturity

• Mortality

  • Could link to prostitution - selling beauty

themes of As froth on the face of the deep

• The importance of having God in one's life/spiritual devotion/religion

• Awe of nature

• Insubstantiality of the world' temporary pleasures

• The potential for spiritual renewal and connection with God

• Faith and hope in God

themes of Babylon the Great

• Temptations of self-indulgence and pleasure

• Corruptibility/immorality vs purity

• Illicit love and illegitimacy

• Renunciation of desire

• Gender and sexuality