Poems analysis/context Flashcards

(28 cards)

1
Q

Song: When I am Dead, My Dearest - 1848

A

Cypress trees were typically planted in Victorian cemeteries; connotations of death, funerals and mourning
Roses traditionally associated with love

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2
Q

Remember - 1849

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Petrarchan sonnet created by 16th century Italian poet Petrarch to present a courtly ideal of womanhood
Volta between the sestet and the octave; typically the sestet answers a problem that the octave poses

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3
Q

From the Antique 1854 - not published

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First line is a quote from Tennyson’s poem Mariana, the eponymous character of which is based off of Marianne from Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure. His poem explores the theme of despondent isolation
Marianne is a tragic figure in the play: she was engaged to marry her love Angelo, but he abandoned her and lied to everyone saying that she was unfaithful after her dowry was lost in a shipwreck that also killed her brother

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4
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Echo - 1854

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Form of a lyric poem, which is a short poem expressing the speaker’s thoughts or feelings rather than an account of an event or situation
In classical Greece, lyrical poems would be sung, accompanied by a lyre
Classical story of echo: she was a nymph cursed to repeat only the last words spoken to her, and when she fell in love with Narcissus, she was unable to express her feelings for him, instead being forced to watch as he fell in love with himself

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5
Q

Shut Out - 1856

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Violets were a traditional symbol of faithfulness, this would have been recognisable to Rossetti’s contemporary Victorian audience
Biblical creation myth and Man’s fall from the Garden of Eden

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6
Q

In The Round Tower at Jhansi (Indian Mutiny) - 1857

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Suicide was traditionally considered a mortal sin, condemned in the Bible, assumed those who committed it would go to Hell. Also a crime punishable by persecution or imprisonment up until 1961, when the law was changed
The poem is focused during the time of the Sepoy Mutiny, where many people sacrificed their lives in Jhansi, a Northern Indian city.
It is also said to be the first Freedom Movement of India, wherein one soldier, named Mangal Pandey, became a rebel and led an army of Indian soldiers to war against the East India Company.
Jan 1857: rumour that cartridges had been greased with fat from cows and pigs; touching the fat would have made the Hindu and Muslim soldiers ritually impure.
In early June 1857, Indian troops mutinied and around 60 European men, women, and children took refuge in the Star Fort, under the charge of Captain Alexander Skene, British superintendent of the Jhansi District.
By the 8th June, all of the Europeans were dead, though the circumstances of their deaths are debated.
The first report of the death of Captain Skene was published in an extract of a letter in The Times on 2nd September 1857, and it details how he shot his wife then himself.
However this account was denounced by several eye-witnesses, and on the 11th September, The Times printed new letters which reported that Skene, his wife, and the other Europeans had surrendered and left the fort under assurance of safe passage. They were subsequently killed ‘by the sword’.
After the Indian Mutiny, control of India was transferred from the EIC to the Crown, and in 1877 Queen Victoria was pronounced empress of India.

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7
Q

In the Round Tower at Jhansi (Indian Mutiny) - 1857
Post-colonial reading

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The contrasting portrayals of the dehumanised Indian rebels and the glorified, devoted married couple reflects how colonial attitudes in the Victorian era clearly saw the British colonists as superior to the Indians, and more “civilised” or worthy of respect. It is evident through the lexis used to describe the two opposing sides, as the speaker evidently evokes sympathy for Skene and his wife. Poem’s full title include Jhansi (location) and June 8th (date), which alludes to the fact that its contents are the historic truth rather than just a fictional story

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8
Q

In the Round Tower at Jhansi (Indian Mutiny) - 1857
Marxist reading

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A comment on how class does not protect you; Skene and his wife, despite being from the upper classes, still suffer and ultimately die. Their death is their choice, rather than being in the control of the “swarming howling wretches”, in this final act they are able to gain some independence

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9
Q

A Birthday - 1857

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Poem mentions purple hangings, carved fruit, statues of animals. These are all figures in the descriptions of Solomon’s Temple in the Bible, it was the first Christian temple ever built
Solomon’s Temple traditionally symbolised God’s presence with his people, and Christians understood it to be a model of the individual’s heart, where God communicated with the human soul
Singing-bird represented “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (William Wordsworth)
Halcyon is a mythical bird which denoted a period of time in the past which was idyllically peaceful and happy
Dove symbol of peace, pomegranate symbol of resurrection and everlasting life, peacock symbol of immortality in Early Christian art (derived from ancient Greek idea that peacock flesh didn’t decay after death)

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10
Q

A Birthday - 1857
Different interpretations of the “birthday”

A

Union with a loved one
The return of Christ
The speaker’s rebirth/resurrection in the afterlife

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11
Q

Maude Clare -1858

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Mostly follows the form of a traditional ballad, with mostly alternate iambic tetrameter and trimeter lines
Traditional ballads often used to make a moral statement, tell a popular story, or celebrate/attack certain institutions or people
Use of ABCB rhyme instead of the traditional ABAB offers a variation on the traditional form, avoidance of fitting into a predictable pattern acknowledges its unconventional message
Lilies have multiple possible symbolic interpretations — love and purity (associated with Virgin Mary), also death and transience (could be reflective of Maude Clare’s sexual freedom)

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12
Q

Up-hill - 1861

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Catechism structure
Beds could be reflective of Rossetti’s belief in the doctrine of soul sleep
Symbolism of the inn could be from John’s Gospel, Jesus comforts his disciples with the promise that “My Father’s house has plenty of room”
Inn could also symbolise the same inn that Mary gave birth to Jesus in; although there was “no room at the inn” for them, the poem reassures that there will be room for the speaker
Symbolism of the door could be from a passage in the Book of Luke, where Jesus encourages people to go to God with their concerns “seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you”
Suggested that this poem was inspired by John Bunyan’s Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), especially in relation to the chapter The Hill Difficulty, which begins “I beheld, then, that they all went on till they came to the foot of the Hill Difficulty”

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13
Q

Up-hill - 1861
Different allegorical readings

A

Life
Christian spiritual journey
Journey to Heaven after death

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14
Q

No, thank you, John - 1862

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“Strike hands” is an archaic term for clasping hands to seal a deal or agreement
Suggested that the poem could be autobiographical and refers to marine painter John Brett’s infatuation with Christina Rossetti, which she did not reciprocate
John is also often used to refer to a generic lover, eg. in the folk song “O, No John! No!”
In Family Letters of Christina Rossetti (1908), William Michael Rossetti wrote that “John was not absolutely mythical”
In one of the volumes of her poetry, Christina Rossetti made a pencil jotting “The original John was obnoxious because he never gave scope for ‘No, Thank You’ ”

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15
Q

Twice - 1864`

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Cornflowers were a symbol of celibacy when worn by young men in love, and a symbol of eligibility to marry when worn by young girls
Dross is used in the Bible as a metaphor for impurity
Pursuit of Eros (romantic love) to agape (love of God)

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16
Q

Winter: My Secret - 1857

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This poem was originally titled “Nonsense”
The reader is made complicit in trying to uncover the poem’s secret through use of direct second address
Doctrine of Reserve, wherein religious truths and knowledge could only be understood by certain people worthy of understanding God’s word

17
Q

Winter: My Secret - 1857
Different interpretations of the secret

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A hidden landscape under winter snow
Euphemism for female chastity
The meaning of poetry
Sacred religious truths

18
Q

Good Friday - 1866

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A devotional poem expresses worship/prayer

Doctrine of reserve: God’s word (eg. in scriptures) should be available only to the faithful, and not to either unbelievers ill prepared to understand religious knowledge, or to Evangelicals who considered themselves too familiar with the mysteries of faith

19
Q

Good Friday - 1866
Symbolism

A

Good Friday directly correlates to the Christian holiday, which commemorates the crucifixion of Christ

Holy lamb is a symbolic of representation of Christ; before human form was first depicted in a Vatican cross in the 6th century, the figure of a lamb standing on a mount and carrying a cross was the sign of Christ crucified

Crucifix is a symbol of Christianity, as well as the death and resurrection of Christ. It serves as a reminder of the burden that Jesus took for humanity’s sin, as well as God’s sacrifice of his only son, so that humanity could have salvation

Fallen Peter denied Jesus three times when on trial, but had a vision which he took as a sign not to flee Rome. Subsequently he was arrested and sentenced to death; he requested to be crucified on an inverted cross (symbol of humility)

The good thief was one of two thieves sentenced to die alongside Jesus, he made the decision to join him on the cross before death, Jesus accepted him

Moses “smite[s] the rock” is associated with the affirmation of faith, and comes from the Book of Exodus (Old Testament). In a state of exhaustion whilst leading his people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, Moses asked God what to do next, he was answered to smite a rock in front of the elders of Israel, from which water came gushing out

Shepherd imagery is utilised in scripture to depict three important aspects of Jesus’ identity (roles as saviour, King of Jehovah, God of Israel). Sheep also used as a symbol of the believers of God and their spiritual dependence on Him. Jesus devoted to protecting and saving the flock of God is typically depicted through shepherd symbolism

20
Q

Soeur Louise de la Miséricorde - 1882

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The poem explores the historic narrative of Louise de la Vallière (1644-1710), a duchess in France in the 17th century, who was a mistress of King Louis XIV:

The King’s affair became known a few years after it began and Louise was forced to live in an extremely hostile environment within the French courts, even after the affair ended; once he had found a new lover, he even used her as a cover to conceal his new affair
Louise, who had loved the King, found his rejection very difficult to take; she began to lose her beauty and miscarried her final pregnancy in 1670
She had several children with him; caused a great scandal in court when she converted to Catholicism and eventually became a nun
In the early 1670s, Louise experienced a sort of epiphany; she joined the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in 1674
A “misericorde” was a long narrow dagger used to grant injured knights an honourable death — her adopted name translates as “Sister Louise of Mercy”
Later in life, Soeur Louise wrote a book titled “Reflections on the Mercy of God”

Phrase “vanity of vanities” is drawn from the Bible and explores the futility of human activity, whilst still insisting that God’s laws must be followed. In some versions, “vanity” is replaced with “futile”
Book of Genesis: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return”

21
Q

Goblin Market - 1862

A

Rossetti herself said that she “did not mean anything profound by this fairytale — it is not a moral apologue”
Could have drawn inspiration from The Vampyre by John Polidori (he was her uncle), which also contains much of the supernatural and psychosexual motifs found in Goblin Market
In The Eve of St Agnes (John Keats) the irresistible fruits with which Porphyro plans to tempt Madeline “candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd” among them are echoed in the early lines of Goblin Market
Significance of corporal transaction is deeply rooted in a religious sentiment similar to ideas shared by Emile Durkheim’s book In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912) where he posits that the two substances of the human body perceived as sacred are hair and blood
Lizzie described as being “like a blue-veined stone”, reference to lapis lazuli, which was regarded as the stone of the Virgin Mary in early Christian tradition
Rossetti dedicated the poem to her sister Maria Francesca Rossetti, who later in life became an Anglican nun (1871)
Throughout her life, Rossetti held the sentiment that her sister was more religious and therefore more “good” than her
Lizzie is a name of Hebrew origin which translates to “God’s oath”, thus she is associated with purity, innocence and religious piety
Concept of averting one’s gaze associated with female chastity; ideas of “separate spheres” were emerging at around this time
1973 Playboy magazine featured Goblin Market, it featured erotic and sexual illustrations
Eucharist: “Take and eat; this is my body” “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant” “for the forgiveness of sins” Matthew 26:26-28

22
Q

Goblin Market - 1862
Different interpretations

A

Allegory to temptation, sin and redemption
A fable warning of the dangers of relationships with men
A whimsical fairytale with no other meaning

23
Q

Goblin Market - 1862
Religious lens

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Christian allegory: reenactment of Eve’s temptation in the Garden of Eden and a Christ-like offer of redemption through sacrifice

24
Q

Goblin Market - 1862
Marxist lens

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The poem’s separation of the domestic and commercial spheres; Lizzie and Laura’s attempts to do business in a marketplace that is designed to make women into goods to be exchanged, rather than agents in their own right

25
Goblin Market - 1862 Feminist lens
Redemptive power of sisterhood; the poem is a rejection of Victorian attitudes to the “Fallen Woman” as the redeemer is not portrayed as superior to the redeemed; concept of a female Christ and woman moral regenerator
26
Goblin Market - 1862 New historicist lens
Dangers of sex, sexual temptation and sin (woman’s role in society, expected to be pure and innocent), the sensual quality of the Eucharist
27
Goblin Market - 1862 Homosexual reading
Pastoral setting and fantastical elements were a “safe” way to explore taboo sexual desires, particularly same-sex desire; the manner in which Lizzie saves Laura is highlighted as the most sexually charged part of the poem. By setting the poem in a natural environment, Rossetti distances the queer elements from the moral constraints of Victorian society.
28
Goblin Market - 1862 Psychoanalytic reading
Sisters regarded as two aspects of one psyche, poem explores a way to express suppressed female desire (instinctual desire of sex vs. imposed chastity). Freudian theory of the division of the mind (id driven by pleasure and demands satisfaction regardless of the consequences; ego conforms the desires of the id into reality; superego focuses on feelings of guilt as a means to enforce rules in society). Like the id, Laura’s senses demand instant gratification; the act of eating the fruits is described with vivid colour and imagery, associated with the colour red, which holds connotations of passion, lust and all that is forbidden, this symbolises the strength of the id’s desires and just how tempting these strange and new fruits are to Laura. After Lizzie’s “rape” by the goblin men she exemplifies characteristics typical of the ego rather than the superego, perhaps reflecting how she has managed to compromise the desires of the id and the guilt of the superego. Girls as a single being - both names begin with L, two syllables, both end in a vowel (phonetically similar names makes it easier to confuse the girls for each other)