Christina Rossetti 's After Death

The first two stanzas in the poem offer an insight into the narrator’s past, showing the loss of her innocence the impact of the actions of the ‘great lord’ and an inner anger at her past actions, in the third and fourth stanzas the anger is directed at Kate for stealing the lord and sending her to her ruin, however in the fifth paragraph the direction of her anger is changed again and this time is directed at the lord himself. However the last stanza shows the narrator’s anger to be resolved for although she may have suffered an immense loss of reputation she can be happy now as she’s expressed her anger and knows within her heart that she has something neither the lord and lady Kate have: real love. This suggests that Rossetti doesn’t agree with confinement of the labels given by society, Kate is seen as ‘lovely and pure’ and she as ‘outcast’ but by presenting her as the one who is ultimately happy and proud it’s expressing that society values the wrong virtues, and has

James Joyce’s short story, “The Dead” depicts characters that all are seemingly alive, yet, on the inside, are very much dead. The main character, Gabriel Conroy, is more concerned with himself and how he is perceived than anyone else. His conceited nature plays a major role in his epiphany at the end of the story. After his wife, Gretta, divulges her childhood to Gabriel and the first young man who ever loved her, Gabriel come to the realization that “he had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that feeling must be love (p. 628). With Gabriel’s sudden epiphany, the issue the readers knew, but he did not, surfaced. Gabriel was dead inside and only cared about himself. Any form of love he ever gave was to himself to boost his own egotistical personality.

The critical loss of an extremely close family member is detrimental to most. Individuals cannot evade death and reality always catches up to them. However, everyone has their own methods of subduing the weight of the inevitable loss within our lifetimes. Within George Bernard Shaw’s letter “She Would Have Enjoyed it”, regarding his mother and her cremation, his attitude shifts from ominous to light-hearted and nostalgic using key details, imagery, and diction in order to convey his feelings and cope with his loss.

Death is something that at some point will come to each of us and has been explored in many forms of literature. “The Raven” and “Incident in a Rose Garden” are two poems that explore common beliefs and misconceptions about death. Though both poems differ in setting, tone, and mood there are surprising similarities in the literary tools they use and in the messages they attempt to convey. The setting and mood establish the tone and feel of a poem. In “The Raven” we are launched into a bleak and dreary winters night where a depressed narrator pines for his dead girlfriend.

she wishes to spend the rest of her life. She wishes to come home and

As one of the most frequently used themes, death has been portrayed and understood differently throughout modern history as well as by poets Christina Rossetti and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in “Remember” and the “Cross of Snow.” It appears in literature as the preeminent dilemma, one that is often met by emotions such as grief, hopefulness, depression, and one that can encompass the entire essence of any writing piece. However, despite Rossetti’s “Remember” and Longfellow’s “Cross of Snow” employing death as a universal similarity, the tones, narratives, and syntaxes of the poems help create two entire different images of what the works are about in the readers’ minds.

As people near the time of their deaths, they begin to reflect upon the history and events of their own lives. Both John Keats’ “When I have Fears” and Henry Longfellow’s “Mezzo Cammin” reflect upon the speakers’ fears and thoughts of death. However, the conclusions between these two poems end quite differently. Although both reflect upon Death’s grasp, Keats’ displays an appreciation and subtle satisfaction with the wonders of life, while Longfellow morbidly mourns his past inactions and fears what events the future may bring.

A great poem shocks us into another order of perception. It points beyond language to something still more essential. It ushers us into an experience so moving and true that we feel at ease. In bad or indifferent poetry, words are all there is. Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” is a great poem, not because it is popular or it is classic, but because of its underlining message. “Annabel Lee” is a poem of death, love, and beauty. It captures the narrator’s interpretation of these three ideas through his feelings and thoughts for one woman. The narrator, Edgar Allan Poe, becomes infatuated at a young age with the character in the poem, Annabel Lee. Even after she passes away, his love for her only increases and only becomes

(253). The death of a woman’s husband receives similar treatment, as Lady Bracknell tells us of “dear Lady Harbury”: “’I hadn’t been there since her poor husband’s death. I never saw a woman so altered; she looks quite twenty years younger’” (261); Algernon pipes in that “’I hear her hair has turned quite gold from grief’” (261).

Christina Rossetti's Poetry: Controlled and Passionate Rossetti's poetry has been described as both controlled and passionate. Making clear what you understand by the terms discuss which of these two views you have more sympathy with and why. Refer closely to at least three of the set poems.

The narrative poem ‘Cousin Kate’ by Rossetti, explores the themes regret and jealousy. The poem itself is a dramatic monologue written in first person by Rossetti, presenting the history of a cottage maiden with a Lord. It was written during the 1800’s where social status was considered important, women were inferior to men and sexual intercourse out of wedlock was frowned upon greatly. In the first stanza we learn that the persona got betrayed and was simply a cottage maiden. She reveals that she was ‘hardened by the sun and air’, portraying how strong she is and how hard she worked.

Controlling the movements of the short stories, death is a regnant theme in D.H. Lawrence’s “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” and Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party.” Death brings forth consciousness and it excites the need for an epiphany within the protagonists. To a lesser extent, death creates tremors in the worlds of the antagonists. Death furthermore makes the indifferences of the secondary characters more pronounced. Affecting the lives of the protagonists, the antagonists, and the secondary characters of these two short stories, death plays an integral role in the themes of these works.

Individuals in society are compelled and feel restricted to follow certain social rules, but for some, their emotions towards the restrictions are negative. Many find different ways to release their constrained emotions, such as art, writing, music and physical activity. In like manner, Christina Rossetti releases her feelings and opinions about restrictions and situations occurring around her, which is evident in her sonnet “A Triad.” Christina Rossetti’s Petrarchan sonnet, “A Triad,” was published in the 1800s; during this period, the image and presentation of women was strict and had to be upheld. In “A Triad,” Rossetti is expressing the lack of variety, labels and freedom of women through the three women illustrated in the poem. The three women are categorized under married and lack of love, ideal woman, and promiscuous. Rossetti’s expressions about the society’s restrictions on women are evident in her use of symbolism of colours and words that are chosen to rhyme.

In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death “ (448), the speaker of the poem is a woman who relates about a situation after her death. The speaker personifies death as a polite and considerate gentleman who takes her in a carriage for a romantic journey; however, at the end of this poem, she finishes her expedition realizing that she has died many years ago.

In the last three paragraphs of the short story “The Dead” by James Joyce, Gabriel and Gretta Conroy attend a family function which ends in a marital dispute. Gabriel experiences a tense evening arguing with various family members and ends the evening realizing his marriage has been a facade. In “The Dead,” Joyce reveals the universal truth that what creates meaning in life and death is love not only feeling true love, but being loved.