Rossetti - important quotations on love (earthly love, divine love, marriage)

A birthday

'love lyric to Christ’ Kathleen Jones (Rossetti’s biographer)

• 'my heart was gladder than all these / Because my love is come to me’

• Religious imagery of ‘purple dyes’, ‘doves and pomegranates’

• Poem is seen as a spiritual rebirth through Christ - ‘birthday of my life’

Twice

• ‘Yet a women’s words are weak’ - represents women’s lack of autonomy and restrictions within earthly love.

• ‘…with a critical eye you scanned’ - fickleness and judgement of men

• ‘This heart take thou to scan / Both within and without…’ - second half of the poem describes the positive impacts of divine love, and the liberation is brings

• ‘I take my heart in my hand’ - divine love brings autonomy

• ‘All that I have I bring / All that I am I give’ - this mimics wedding vows (marriage with Christ)

Maude Clare

• ‘His bride was like a village maid / Maude Clare was like a queen’ 

• ‘He strove to match her scorn with scorn, / He faltered in his place;’ 

• ‘Take my share of a fickle heart’…’ 

• ‘For he’s my lord for better for worse, / And him I love Maude Clare.’ - Nell

• ‘I’ll love him till he loves me best,/ Me best of all, Maude Clare’ - Nell 

No, Thank you, John

• ‘I never said I loved you, John’ 

• ‘I dare say Meg or Moll would take / Pity upon you, if you’d ask’ 

• ‘I have no heart? - Perhaps I have not;’ 

• ‘I’d rather answer ‘No’ to fifty Johns / Than answer ‘Yes’ to you.’ 

• ‘Here’s friendship for you, if you’d like; but love- / No, Thank you, John’