what are the themes of this poem?
- Love
- Religion & Faith
- Hope
- Suffering
- Time & Aging
who is the speaker?
- The poem uses a first-person speaker (“I”), making it deeply personal.
is there a shift of tone?
Tone shift: Initially subdued and controlled, becoming more intense and emotionally charged by the end of Part One. Part Two brings a sense of peace, resignation, and hope.
what is the language of this poem?
- Past tense in Part One reflects retrospection on lost love and suffering.
- Present tense in Part Two signals acceptance and contemplation of the future.
what is the context for this poem?
- Rossetti rejected multiple marriage proposals due to her religious convictions.
- Close friendship with Charles Bagot Cayley influenced her views on love and devotion.
- Connects to Victorian religious ideals and the limited roles of women, showing her struggle between earthly love and divine faith.
when were the 2 sections of this poem written? and what are they reflecting?
Written over eight years:
- Part One: 1857 (reflecting on past decisions).
- Part Two: 1865 (contemplating present and future).
what is the structure/form of this poem?
Two-part division:
- Part One: 5 stanzas (quatrains), ABAB rhyme scheme.
- Part Two: 4 stanzas (quatrains), ABBA rhyme scheme.
- End-stopped stanzas: Each stanza ends decisively, reinforcing finality.
what is the rhyme of this poem?
Rhythm: Mostly iambic pentameter, but the last line of each stanza is shorter, creating an unsettling feeling of something “missing.”
what poems could this be compared to?
A Birthday (hope in divine love).
Twice (similar structure).
What Would I Give (theme of silence).
A Christmas Carol (similar structure).
“I nursed it in my bosom while it lived,/I hid it in my heart when it was dead;/I joy I sat alone, even so I grieved/Alone and nothing said.”
- “Nursed” – Maternal, nurturing imagery, treating love as something precious.
- “It” – Ambiguous, but likely refers to earthly love.
- Juxtaposition: “Joy” vs. “Grieved” – Shows emotional isolation despite doing what she believes is right.
- Oxymoron: “Joy I sat alone” – She feels both fulfillment and sorrow.
- Silence: “Nothing said” – Recurring motif in Rossetti’s poetry (What Would I Give).
“I shut the door to face the naked truth,/I stood alone- I faced the truth alone,/Stripped bare of self-regard or forms of ruth/Till first and last were shown.”
- “Naked truth” – Facing reality, raw and unembellished.
- “Shut the door” – A metaphor for rejecting earthly love.
- Religious reference: “First and last” alludes to Alpha and Omega in Christianity (God as eternal truth).
- Punctuation variation reflects a turmoil of emotions.
“I took the perfect balances and weighed;/No shaking of my hand disturbed the poise;/Weighed, found it wanting: not a word I said,/But silent made my choice.”
- Weighing balance – Biblical reference to judgment and moral evaluation.
- “No shaking hand” – Confidence in her decision, despite the pain.
- Alliteration: “W” sounds emphasize finality (“Weighed, found it wanting”).
- Metaphor: Her earthly love was “wanting” (not enough).
“None know the choice I made; I make it still/None know the choice I made and broke my heart,/Breaking mine idol: I have braced my will/Once, chosen for once my part.”
- Anaphora: “None know” – Stresses isolation and silent suffering.
- Chiasmus: “I made; I make it still” – Reinforces ongoing commitment.
- “Breaking mine idol” – Rejecting false idols (love, earthly attachments).
- “Braced” – Tension, preparing for hardship.
- “Once” – Finality; she won’t change her decision.
“I broke it at a blow, I laid it cold,/Crushed in my deep heart where it used to live./My heart dies inch by inch, the time grows old,/Grows old in which I grieve.”
- “Broke it at a blow” – Harsh, decisive rejection of love.
- Plosive alliteration (“broke,” “blow”) – Violent, aggressive.
- Semantic field of destruction: “Crushed,” “dies,” “blow.”
- Binary opposites: “Live” vs. “Dies” – Inner turmoil.
- Repetition of “grows old” – The burden of grief intensifies over time.
- Biblical reference: Breaking false idols (Deuteronomy).
PART 2 STARTS - “I have a room whereinto no one enters/Save I myself alone:/There sits a blessed memory on a throne,/There my life centres.”
- “Room” – Symbolizes a private, spiritual refuge.
- Metaphor: Her faith and past memories coexist.
- Transition to present tense – Acceptance of her fate.
- Time jump – The poem’s gap mirrors the real-life gap between its two sections (8 years).
“While winter comes and goes—oh tedious comer!… Of lavish summer.”
- “Winter” – Symbolizes emotional suffering and loneliness.
- Pathetic fallacy: Seasons mirror her emotional journey.
- “Lavish summer” – Hope, possibly representing heaven.
- “Bloodless” vs. “Bloom” – Cycle of death and rebirth.
“If any should force entrance… Or bend my knee there;”
- “Force entrance” – Suggests unwanted intrusion, possibly referencing past pressures to marry.
- “Buried yet not dead” – Love isn’t completely gone; she waits for a spiritual reunion.
“But often in my worn life’s autumn weather… When we’re together.”
- “Autumn” – Symbol of aging and patience.
- Final reference to “Paradise” – Implies ultimate reunion with God or a kindred spirit.
- Cyclical structure: Begins with solitude and ends with hope.
- The full stop – Symbolizes peace and closure.
