Compare the ways Rossetti Presents Nature in her Poems
Christina Rossetti was a Victorian poet who uses nature in her poems to
express her beliefs on religion and mortality. She was a High Anglican
Christian and therefore her beliefs did not conform to the typical Victorian
Christianity so she represents her views of God's power through nature.
Specifically, she often uses flowers to symbolise spiritual purity in poems
such as 'A Birthday', whereas in poems such as 'Paradise: In a Dream' she uses
trees as a symbol for religion. Overall, Rossetti's poems are heavily
influenced by her strong religious beliefs which is shown through the way
Rossetti presents natural imagery.
Do a quick introduction about what the whole poem is about. Describe how the use of natural imagery is used to represent royalty. Like how peacocks are always thought of as a royal blue colour. Talk about the column how Rossetti uses nature to try and symbolise how royal and powerful God is. Mention how "silver" is not a natural colour for a flower to be so she is uses hyper-natural imagery in an attempt to represent her deity. In 'A Birthday', Rossetti uses a metaphor to symbolise the holy trinity.
She describes "silver fleurs-de-lys" which are lilies with three parts.
This implies a religious influence as the three parts of the flower could
symbolise the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Religion was one of the
biggest aspects of Rossetti's life- she was diagnosed with religious mania
after a breakdown when she was 14- so the lily, which is delicate and
beautiful, could represent the three most important things in her life which
she believes to be the most beautiful. Similarly, in 'Paradise: In a Dream'
Rossetti uses flowers to express how she interprets God's teachings. She
describes "the flowers that bud and bloom in Paradise". The noun
"Paradise" implies that Rossetti is describing the Garden of Eden and
the flowers she describes represent the beauty and purity of the Garden before
Eve ate the apple. The alliteration of "bud and bloom" emphasises the
perfection of the Garden of Eden and highlights Rossetti's religious belief
that God is all powerful and capable of creating complete "Paradise"
in Heaven for those who deserve to go there. Furthermore, the alliteration
implies that while in her "Paradise" everything is perfect where buds
grow into flowers, she also believes that Postlapsarian times are sinful and
imperfect as she firmly states that everything is much better in the Garden of
Eden than on Earth.
Rossetti uses similes in 'A Birthday' to compare nature to her religious
ideals. In the first stanza, the persona states "My heart is like an
apple-tree" and the simile makes the tone of the poem more playful and
carefree. Furthermore, the noun "apple-tree" may be a reference to
the Garden of Eden where Eve gave in to temptation and ate an apple off one of
the trees. This suggests that the persona finds happiness through Christianity
and Rossetti is encouraging the reader to find peace through religion like the
persona. The phrase "My heart" is repeated throughout the poem and
Rossetti compares it to numerous forms of nature. This suggests that her poetry
is often influenced by nature and the religious symbolism in the comparison to
nature implies that she is able to find freedom like she can see in nature
through her religion. On the other hand, Rossetti uses the metaphor of a tree
in 'Paradise: In a Dream' to symbolise the image of Jesus Christ. She talks
about "The Tree of Life" in the fourth stanza which is the medieval
image of Christ on the cross. The structure puts the reference in the middle of
the poem which may symbolise that Christ was at the centre of Rossetti's life.
During her life, Rossetti turned down three suitors because they did not have
the same religious beliefs as her which suggests she put her love for God
before anything else and these strong beliefs heavily influence her poems as
she makes numerous religious references.
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