Christina Rossetti Allusion

Christina Rossetti is considered one of the most important women poets of the nineteenth-century. She grew up in a very religious family, which impacted her life later on. A majority of her works reflect a religious focus based on her upbringing. One of her most famous works was Goblin Market and Other Poems. This collection of poems is an allusion to Bible, discussing themes of temptation, salvation, gender roles, feminism, and sexual desires. She wrote the poem “A Daughter of Eve” as a part of this collection when it was published in 1875. In this poem, Rossetti is describing a life, possibly her own, where the good times were missed. There are aspects of regret and sorrow found in her words. The themes of this poem are ones of depression …show more content…
The assonance of repeating vowel sounds in the poem’s lines creates a smooth transition between the words. The flow of the poem is smooth, considering the simplicity of the sentence structure. This adds to the poem’s meaning painting a clear image that is easy to read to the reader on her thoughts and emotions. It also contributes by portraying her regret as something that is temporary and will pass by without any complications. In her mind, her bitter mood of regret is short-lived and she will forget about her doubts in a day, continuing with her life. Rossetti uses metaphors to compare herself to. She compares herself to a chilly night beneath the comfortless cold moon in lines two and three. This describes her emotions during the times that she missed out on in the past. She was like an observant moon that stood by and watched the events happen around her with no interest. This metaphor allows the reader to understand her non-participation in situations that she now regrets. Because of her religious upbringing, Christina Rossetti uses the poetic device of allusion. In this poem, she alludes to the Garden of Eden in line six, as well as the title. The title’s allusion meaning is one that she is a child of Eve, the first human woman who had succumbed to the temptation of sin. Rossetti is referring to the individual in the poem as one who is guilty. The garden is …show more content…
The poem shows aspects of biographical criticism with her identification of her own life in her writing. The poem is a reflection of how she has lived her past life and her feelings toward her own decisions and those past events. There is an evident relationship between Rossetti’s life and her literary work. Biographical knowledge of Rossetti’s life enriches the meaning behind the poem and allows the reader to understand why she writes the poem with a certain structure and poetic devices. Rossetti also uses a feminist critique in this poem because she is observing and questioning her role as a woman in society. Because of her religious devotion, she has turned away many life lovers and has remained a single woman. Because of the poem’s theme of regret, she is reflecting on whether she has missed out on the woman’s role of being a