Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti [Hardcover]

Christina Georgina Rossetti (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 332 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr; A variorum ed edition (March 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807103586
• ISBN-13: 978-0807103586
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,359,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars What would you give, to save your own soul?, February 12, 2012

By 

David August "Internet gadfly" (Around and about) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti (Hardcover)

NOTE: THE ITEM LISTED HERE IS VOLUME I OF III

Christina Rossetti's poetry fascinates me. I feel if I could really, truly, deeply understand it, then I would understand women.

Women, of course, give birth. That's a sacrifice of one's own being that we men can never fully grasp. But reading the works of Rossetti, who never wed and died childless, can bring us a little closer. Self-sacrifice, or more accurately, forbearance, is the central theme of much of her writing. Rossetti was an extremely devout woman of strong religious beliefs. Some of her best-known works, such as "A Birthday," appear at first glance to be poems of romantic love and joy, but are actually about her adoration of her Savior. Many of her other works are more overtly devotional.

But Rossetti was also blessed with a keen perception of the natural, physical, profane world, and the temptation of its pleasures. Her longest and best-known work, "Goblin Market," virtually wallows in the scent, the flavor, the sweet luscious juices of fruits expressly warned to be forbidden. Self-sacrifice and forbearance again are integral to the theme: is it worth so much to give something up, if you do not know its value to begin with?

Rossetti has been characterized as a sad poet, even a dour one, but she was also capable of some whimsy, and even winking slyness. "My Dream," an extremely puzzling allegory depicting cannabilistic crocodiles of the Euphrates battling over imperial regalia, concludes with these lines: "What does it mean? you ask. I answer not/For meaning, but myself must echo, What?/And tell it as I saw it, on the spot." No writer I know of has ever more directly challenged the reader to unravel such a riddle. Rossetti also wrote a number of playful rhymes for children and, a second-generation Englishwoman herself (sister of well-known artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti), composed some verses in Italian as well.

This comprehensive edition (in 3 volumes) includes all of Rossetti's published and unpublished works. I eagerly await volumes II and III. Perhaps once I've read and studied it all, I will understand.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Luminous beauty, October 17, 1999

By 

S Peterson "Thais Peterson" (Haslet, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti (Hardcover)

I have been so delighted to find Rossetti's poetry. It is rare and delicious, I would recommend that anyone who loves poetry read it!

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Luminous beauty, October 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti (Hardcover)

I have been so delighted to find Rossetti's poetry. It is rare and delicious, I would recommend that anyone who loves poetry read it!