OVERALL ENGLISH LIT GRADE: A* | POETRY GRADE: A 101/120 MARKS [93
UMS]
1. LOVE/RELATIONSHIPS
2. RELIGION
3. WOMEN
4. NATURE
5. YEARNING/LONGING/DESIRE
1. LOVE/ RELATIONSHIPS
POEMS: REMEMBER, HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN, NO THANK YOU JOHN, A
SMILE AND A SIGH, ECHO, AUTUMN VIOLETS
Despite never marrying and having children, Rossetti had numerous relationships
and engagements which have influenced her poetry from 1842. Ultimately,
demonstrating the central theme of love through her former relationships, faith, and
family. Notably, Rossetti exemplifies how love has influenced her poetry as she
dedicated all her books of poetry towards her mother, with whom she lived with all
her life.
Written during a national period of mourning for Prince Albert who died in 1861,
Rossetti arguably reflects the love and relationship of Prince Albert and Queen
Victoria within the poem ‘REMEMBER’. The euphemism of ‘when you can no more
hold me by the hand’ conveys the idea that although the personas physical presence
will be gone, their love between them will remain spiritually. Significantly, the
euphony of the letter ‘H’ may resemble the sound of the persona pleading or panting,
creating the image of them and their physical love dying. Effectively, the poem’s plea
for remembrance even after separation can be seen as reflecting Rossetti’s personal
experiences of emotional exile and longing for spiritual reunion. On the other hand,
, the imagery of the ‘hand’ could be alluding to the vows of marriage as the word
‘hand’ may symbolise one’s hand in marriage and their love, which is now
deteriorating as the persona enters the ‘silent land’, connoting heaven. This imagery
may reflect ‘The creation of Adam’ painting where God is touching Adam’s hand to
give him life. The fact both speakers can no longer hold hands suggests a loss of life
and love between them. Ultimately, the poem embodies the harsh reality the
Victorian era faced as it affected lovers and relationships, as Queen Victoria
remained in her mourning attire for the next 40 years of her life.
Effectively, Rossetti also demonstrates the influence of her personal life and
experience on the theme of love within the poem ‘HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN’. With
the opening line (‘have you forgotten how one summer night we wandered forth
together with the moon, while warm winds hummed us to a sleepy tune?’) the
speaker addresses their lover seeking to recreate the meaning of a shared, loving
experience. Rossetti creates a romantic semantic field within the rhetorical question
as she evoked the natural world in romantic terms with the alliterative ‘W’ and long
vowels in ‘moon’ and ‘sleepy’. Arguably, John Keats may have influenced Rossetti’s
literary techniques here as a widely known English Romantic lyrical poet who uses
vivid imagery, rich language and nature, as reflected in the poem. Additionally, the
intentional choice of capitalising the name ‘Summer’ suggests significance to the
speaker, alluding to a love affair. Moreover, the sensory imagery evoked by the
‘distant call of church bells’ may reflect Rossetti’s own love life as she became
engaged to the pre-Raphaelite artist James Collinson in 1848, yet shortly broke off
the engagement in 1850 as he converted to Roman Catholicism. Ultimately, the
poem explores the melancholic idea of heart-ache and the impact love can hold on
both the persona and Rossetti herself.
With Violet Hunt stating that John Brett had informed her that he had proposed to
Rossetti, but were rejected, and William Rossetti continuing this unofficial belief, it
results in the popular assumption that the unidentified ‘John’ in ‘NO THANK YOU
JOHN’ is based upon Rossetti’s experience with him. The persona’s readiness to
turn down offers of marriage attests to Rossetti’s independence and strength of
character, resulting in the presentation of a powerful female speaker who challenges
the Victorian norms surrounding love. The matrimonial Causes act of 1857
demonstrates the female hardship regarding love as men could divorce their wives
for adultery alone, while women had to prove additional faults alongside adultery.
The abrupt opening line of ‘I never said I loved you John’ emphasises the speaker’s
rejection of love and establishes an assertive persona. Interestingly, the forceful
removal of the male voice allows Rossetti to only exemplify the female voice as the
sound of the poem, reinforcing a sense of female empowerment regarding love.
Regardless, Rossetti’s views on female equality remain complicated as she argued
for female representation in parliament yet she did not want women to have the right
to vote. Ultimately, the cyclical device of ending the poem with the title almost
contains the poem and could perhaps symbolise Rossetti choosing to move on with
life without the love of a husband, despite Victorian norms and her complicated
views on female equality.
