Christina Rossetti was first published at the age of 17 and from there went on to publish hundreds of poems; the majority religious and this may dissuade those who don’t hold with religion from reading her work, all I can say is please don’t let it.

One of my favourite pieces of her writing is 'Goblin Market’, the tale of two sisters Lizzie and Laura, and their almost fatal encounter with the goblin men. On first read I found it to be quite confusing, but the more I read this poem the more I came to realise that it was a morality tale, and that the broken rhythm in which it was written was as compelling and tempting as sin itself. It is full of a sexual innuendo that makes it hard to ignore, even more so when these innuendo lay next to implied religious imagery. However, like most poems the interpretation and intent of the poetry is dependent on the reader, and another may read this poem and come away from it with a totally different picture and meaning in their mind.

Another of my favourite pieces of Ms. Rossetti is ‘Remember’. It is beautifully written and covers the subject of death and grieving. I first read this poem shortly after I had lost my Father, and it struck such a chord in me that I immediately started devouring all and any works by this poet. Even though years have passed since I picked up any of her writings, reading this collection has reminded me why I enjoy poetry as much as literature.

Trying to review a collection of poems is difficult under any circumstances, but to give the poetry in this collection the reviews they truly deserve I would have to write about each one individually, and that would result in there being no need for anyone to pick it up and read them.

I would highly recommend this short collection to any who may have heard of Christina Rossetti but have not yet read her work. Yes, some of the poems are a little difficult to understand; yes, there is a religious theme in most of her work and yes they can be highly emotional to read. What they are not is a waste of time.


Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2015/04/24/review-poems-of-christina-rossetti-christi...




This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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First American Edition, 1995.

Christina Rossetti was first published at the age of 17 and from there went on to publish hundreds of poems; the majority religious and this may dissuade those who don’t hold with religion from reading her work, all I can say is please don’t let it.

One of my favourite pieces of her writing is 'Goblin Market’, the tale of two sisters Lizzie and Laura, and their almost fatal encounter with the goblin men. On first read I found it to be quite confusing, but the more I read this poem the more I came to realise that it was a morality tale, and that the broken rhythm in which it was written was as compelling and tempting as sin itself. It is full of a sexual innuendo that makes it hard to ignore, even more so when these innuendo lay next to implied religious imagery. However, like most poems the interpretation and intent of the poetry is dependent on the reader, and another may read this poem and come away from it with a totally different picture and meaning in their mind.

Another of my favourite pieces of Ms. Rossetti is ‘Remember’. It is beautifully written and covers the subject of death and grieving. I first read this poem shortly after I had lost my Father, and it struck such a chord in me that I immediately started devouring all and any works by this poet. Even though years have passed since I picked up any of her writings, reading this collection has reminded me why I enjoy poetry as much as literature.

Trying to review a collection of poems is difficult under any circumstances, but to give the poetry in this collection the reviews they truly deserve I would have to write about each one individually, and that would result in there being no need for anyone to pick it up and read them.

I would highly recommend this short collection to any who may have heard of Christina Rossetti but have not yet read her work. Yes, some of the poems are a little difficult to understand; yes, there is a religious theme in most of her work and yes they can be highly emotional to read. What they are not is a waste of time.


Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2015/04/24/review-poems-of-christina-rossetti-christi...




This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
( )

I am definitely going to buy a print copy of this wonderful book of poetry. I first became intrigued with Christina Rossetti last year, in 2015, when I chanced upon a penguin publication of her poem, The Goblin Market as part of its 80th anniversary celebrations. I could only imagine the Victorian circumstances and way of living that forced such brilliant women like Rossetti to seek their creative outlet through poetry. As a new Kindle reader, among the very first books that I searched for were Rossetti's complete works of poetry and this book is a treasurer's delight. There are about 230 poems. I could read them all one each day and keep doing it for the rest of my life. Bravo, Christina. ( )

If you like the poet, this is a handsome volume done up with decoration and typeface that mimic the period very well. ( )