By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Christina Rossetti (1830-94) originally gave her poem ‘Winter: My Secret’ the rather less appealing title ‘Nonsense’. She renamed it with its more exciting title when it was published in Goblin Market and Other Poems in 1862. The new title immediately piques our interest. ‘Winter: My Secret’. But what secret? In this post, we offer some notes towards a summary and analysis of Rossetti’s poem.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘My heart is like a singing bird’: ‘A Birthday’ is one of the most widely anthologised poems by the Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830-94). It is also, perhaps, one of the greatest birthday poems in the English language. The poem was published in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), Rossetti’s first poetry collection.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Good Friday’ was published in Christina Rossetti’s 1866 collection The Prince’s Progress and Other Poems. The poem is about Rossetti’s struggle to feel close to Christ and the teachings of Christianity, and to weep for the sacrifice he made. Below we offer a short summary and analysis of ‘Good Friday’, focusing on its language and meaning.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Shut Out’ was published in Christina Rossetti’s first collection of poetry, Goblin Market and Other Poems, in 1862. Below we offer some notes towards a summary and analysis of Rossetti’s ‘Shut Out’ in terms of its language and meaning.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Twice’ is not one of Christina Rossetti’s most famous poems, but it deserves to be better known. Its songlike quality shows up its kinship with many of Rossetti’s more celebrated poems, and its emotional power is as great as ‘A Birthday’ or ‘Remember’. Written in 1864 and published in Rossetti’s second collection, The Prince’s Progress and Other Poems in 1866, ‘Twice’ takes as its theme the fallen women who is wronged by a man.