Christina Rossetti, selected poems Contents
- Social / political context
- Religious / philosophical context
- Literary context
- A Better Resurrection
- A Birthday
- A Royal Princess
- At Home
- Cousin Kate
- Despised and Rejected
- Echo
- Goblin Market
- Good Friday
- Jessie Cameron
- L.E.L
- Maude Clare
- Remember
- Shut Out
- Song (When I am dead, my dearest)
- Summer is Ended
- The Convent Threshold
- The Lowest Place
- To Lalla, reading my verses topsy-turvy
- Twice
- Up-hill
- Winter: My Secret
'Song (When I am dead, my dearest)' - Language, tone and structure
Language and tone
Repetition
There is a marked amount of repetition in Song:
- Whilst the first verse ends, ‘And if thou wilt, remember, / And if thou wilt, forget (lines 7-8), the second ends ‘Haply I remember, / And haply may forget (lines 15-16). By prefacing the words ‘remember' and ‘forget' in the same way in both instances, there is a blurring of the distinction between memory and forgetfulness
- The first three lines in the second verse begin, ‘I shall not' (lines 9-11). The repetition of this phrase highlights the transformation of the speaker's senses after death. S/he is no longer able to ‘see', ‘feel', or ‘hear' earthly phenomena. Rather, his/her concerns will shift away from the earthly environment.
Alliteration
Throughout Song Rossetti also uses alliteration and sibilance to create a song-like tone:
- Phrases such as ‘sad songs' (line 2) highlight the melancholy voice of the speaker. The soft ‘sh' sounds in the words ‘shady' and ‘showers' reinforce his/her weary tone
- The description of ‘green grass' is sensuous and offers a comforting promise.
Investigating language and tone
- Think about the voice that emerges through the poem. Does this voice bring out any particular emotions?
- To what extent are you able to identify with the poetic speaker?
- Is there any evidence to suggest that the speaker is actually a woman?
- Would a difference in gender mean that you read the poem any differently?
- Do you consider that the speaker displays traits traditionally ascribed to a male or female voice?
Structure and versification
Metre
The first verse of Song is written in iambic tetrameter, with the first foot inverted in l. 1, 3 and 5. This creates a song-like rhythm. This is strengthened by the regularity of the second stanza, broken only by the trochee that starts the penultimate line.
Enjambement
In Song, the use of enjambement creates a sense of spontaneity and reinforces the idea that the speaker is freely expressing his/her ideas. In particular, the lines, ‘And dreaming through the twilight / That doth not rise nor set' (lines 13-14) demonstrate the free flow of thought that the poem expresses.
Investigating structure and versification
- Read the first verse again closely, thinking about its rhythm. Which other words does the poem emphasise through the rhythm of that the metre creates?
- Which words are linked to one another through the metre?
- Like A Birthday, the poem is written in a 16 line form, divided up into 2 stanzas
- Can you identify any further similarities in form?
- Can you identify any differences?
- How does the metre in each of Song (When I am dead, my dearest) and A Birthday differ?
- What does the structure contribute to the poems?
- Does it affect the tone in which the poems are read?
Alliteration is a device frequently used in poetry or rhetoric (speech-making) whereby words starting with the same consonant are used in close proximity- e.g. 'fast in fires', 'stars, start'.
term used to describe lines of verse in which 's' or 'z' sounds are enhanced
A term used of speech rhythms in blank verse; an iambic rhythm is an unstressed, or weak, beat followed by a stressed, or strong, beat. It is a rising metre.
A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet (in modern verse) or eight feet (in classical verse).
A group of syllables which constitute a metrical unit within a line of poetry. In English poetry this includes stressed and unstressed syllables.
A metric foot in a line of verse, consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed. It is thus a falling metre.
The technique used in blank verse and other verse forms in which the sense of a line runs on without a pause to the next one; this often gives a sense of greater fluency to the lines.
The particular measurement in a line of poetry, determined by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (in some languages, the pattern of long and short syllables). It is the measured basis of rhythm.
The particular measurement in a line of poetry, determined by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (in some languages, the pattern of long and short syllables). It is the measured basis of rhythm.
In literature, the way a text is built up and formed.
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