Christina Rossetti's Depression

“Explaining My Depression to my Mother” is creative as it shows clear examples of unity, virtuosity, originality, and being bigger than the sum of its parts. Benaim’s piece possesses many unifying dynamics. The poet’s consistency of voice throughout the performance leaves the audience hooked on the devastating truths about her depression. Unity is expressed through steady imagery, composed by despondent language and a tremulous stance. These two components create images of isolation and loneliness. For example, one might imagine being a dark room with no doors or windows. Sabrina Benaim’s “Explaining My Depression to my Mother” is a piece of virtuosity. Benaim’s aptitude for performing spoken word is shown through use of tone, metaphors, stance, speed, diction and breathing.

A great poet makes the reader feel connected and inside the poem. Shakespeare, Frost, and Angelou all encompass the great qualities of a wonderful writer, because readers are taken on a trip. Much like the Shakespeare, Natasha Trethewey, used “experience” to write poems that take readers on an adventure through the lives of 1912 New Orleans prostitutes. She gives these women identities. These normally shunned women were given families, backstories, and most importantly, emotions. She took what people consider the scum of society and turned them into normal women, who have doubts and insecurities. She manages to make women these women human. In this specific collection of poems, the focus is on Ophelia, a young woman who has to deal with a father

Unlike other forms of literature, poetry can be so complex that everyone who reads it may see something different. Two poets who are world renowned for their ability to transform reader’s perceptions with the mere use of words, are TS Eliot and Walt Whitman. “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot, tells the story of a man who is in love and contemplating confessing his emotions, but his debilitating fear of rejection stops him from going through with it. This poem skews the reader’s expectations of a love song and takes a critical perspective of love while showing all the damaging emotions that come with it. “Song of myself”, by Walt Whitman provokes a different emotion, one of joy and self-discovery. This poem focuses more on the soul and how it relates to the body. “Song of myself” and “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” both explore the common theme of how the different perceptions of the soul and body can affect the way the speaker views themselves, others, and the world around them.

Christina Rossetti is known as one of the primary female figures of the Victorian Period. The majority of her poetry falls into one of two categories: religion and relationships. Many of her poems on relationships included a theme of death, yet often centered

The Victorian England witnessed many developments ranging from the social to the literary fields. Literature being the very reflection of society since ages continued in the nineteenth century England also as the vehicle of expression. While the scientific advancement was the trend, there were many writers who sought a subjective involvement with life owing to the growth of uncertainty and doubts and took refuge from the religious domains. Poets like Matthew Arnold saw religion as the perfect hope for sustenance and apart from him, there were many other writers who made their say whether in the form of poetry or prose and contributed to the world literary domain. An effective woman voice of the period was Christian Georgina Rossetti.

There are 14.8 million American adults between the ages of 15 to 44 who experience depression in some point and time throughout their life(“Depression”). Although depression is a word that is commonly misused 14.8 million people have experienced some form of depression, weather It may be major depression or mild depression. Often more than not, individuals confuse the days of unhappiness and the lack of desire to function with the rest of the world with major depression. When analyzing the poem Marks by Linda Pastan and the poem Myth by Natasha Tretheway I notice key features of a depressed individual. Pastan and Tretheway portray each of their characters as a depressed individual; because they focus so keenly on their unhappiness with their lives, and even suicide. Many people will argue that poetry and writing does not help with the effects of depression, but I disagree and I will explain why and how each author may be battling with their own form of depression as well as how writing these poems has empowered them and also given them the ability to handle depression.

Julie Schumacher’s Black Box delves deeper into the mysterious world of depression and the affect illness has not only on the patient, but also on the people that care for them. Even though many assume this book is about a plane crash, the severity of the actual plot is just as serious and terrifying. Even though some may dispute that depression is a real medical condition, according to an experiment done on depressed teens,“the regions in bilateral ventral prefrontal cortex that show decreased functional connectivity from the bilateral hippocampus in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD)” (Geng 6). Depression is a genuine medical disorder proven by brain scans on adolescents.

Christina Rossetti poetry uses concise structures but through these she expresses immense emotion; in this respect her poetry can accurately described as "both controlled and passionate" yet the two words are almost a paradox as passion is frequently seen to be at odds with controlled tight structures. Other poets have also followed in Rossetti's footsteps by combining tight structured poetic forms with emotion e.g. Dylan Thomas.

With a life marred by tragedy at the very young age of three with his parents death, thus leaving him an orphan, his works reveals his darkly passionate sensibilities—a tormented and sometimes neurotic obsession with death and violence and overall appreciation for the beautiful yet tragic mysteries of life. Poe’s creations illustrate a powerful faculty for both the technical and abstract beauty linked with an inveterate inclination toward nocturnal themes.

Poems are centerpieces for human emotions. They can feature an array of passions ranging from bright and peaceful to angry and sad. Somberness is not very alluring to most people, but to those who have been through a traumatic event such as a school shooting, poems that begin in sorrow and conclude with hope are most fitting. These poems are sometimes used inside obituaries to help restore peace to a broken family. One poet whose poem heals people is Nikki Giovanni. In her, “We are Virginia Tech,” she addresses a crowd who has fallen victim to a tragedy. The facts that poetry is therapeutic in times of stress, its cadence affect emotions, and that it is inspirational during times of loss, proves “the healing effect” that Giovanni believes is prevalent in poetry.

One of the 20th century’s most important and influential modernist poets was Hilda Doolittle, more commonly known as H.D. While other artists struggled to find a new mode of expression, H.D. found imagism and created intense poems delving into very specific depictions. In “Sheltered Garden,” H.D. employs intense imagery using nature in order to put forth an opinion or viewpoint, which is also highlighted by another poem titled, “Sea Rose.” By analyzing these two poems, one can more fully comprehend the modernist movement/mentality and how H.D. shaped her own form of poetry. In “Sheltered Garden,” the poet uses the image of a garden to not only push against society’s constraint of women, but also its imposed ideas of beauty, creating tension between the natural and the unnatural.

Love is the most common theme that most poets write about; moreover, poets interpret and write different kind of love poems. There are poems that are about a person’s first love, a poem about the fate of two lovers, a poem about a strong everlasting love, and more. The poems In Muted Tone by Paul Verlaine, Fate by Carolyn Wells, and I Wish I Could Remember That First Day by Christina Rossetti are well connected to one another because they all have the same theme: Love. Although these three poems have different kind of love, the main focus of each poem is the love each speaker has towards someone: their first love, a person from their past, and the person they are with at the moment.

Depression is often described in superficial terms based on the manifestation of symptoms but falling short of capturing the complexity existing within the intrinsic etiology of the disease. It is one of two classifications of mood disorders with the other being Bipolar Disorder which is also known as manic-depressive illness. Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. The lifetime prevalence rate of depression is 16.2% of the population with a two-fold greater risk in women than men after adolescence (McCance, 2010). Signs and symptoms characteristic of Major Depression include sadness, irritability, significant weight gain or loss, insomnia, guilt, and suicide ideation. It is distinguishable from Bipolar Disorder in that it lacks symptoms of mania. Risk factors associated with depression are stress, comorbidities, life changes, and substance and/or alcohol abuse. It is important to understand the relative risk associated with these risk factors when determining treatment. For example, the relative risk between the substance abuse, depression, and suicide is evident in a recent analysis conducted by The National Survey on Drug Use and Health focusing on the suicidal thoughts and behavior among adults with substance dependence or abuse and adults with major depressive episode. Results indicated that adults 18 or older who had past year substance

For as long as it can be remembered people have used multiple forms of literature in order to gain knowledge, entertain, and even express a certain idea. Poetry is in fact one of those forms of literature, and before people began to write it, it was known to be told verbally by many. A person would tell a tale and those who listened would memorize it, what eventually caused poetry to spread around. Still to this day, many come to fall in love with the magic poetry possesses. It is the writer’s decision to either have a specific rhythm to it or just have a simple list of words. This essay argues that poetry is a creative way of expressing one's emotions and that it should be, not only preserved, but celebrated, even by those who have not considered themselves poetry fans in the past.

Depression affects 350 million people and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Everyone deals with depression a different way but it is not easy, the best way is to see a professional and talk about it to try to let it all out, but most people come up with their own way. Depressed modern poets such as Jack Kerouac and Sylvia Plath tried to shock themselves into reality and heal their depression and feelings about certain subjects with alcohol and electroconvulsive therapy but could not. They both decided to chose the outlet of poetry and release their negative feelings by writing about similar themes. This becomes evident when one draws similarities between themes such as isolation, nature and love proven by examining The Big Sur by Jack Kerouac and many poetic works from Sylvia Plath. Being a popular poet can do alot to one, and if ones fans only care about their work and not their true feelings the artist tends to feel isolated.