Compare the way Rossetti presents nature in her poems

Compare the way Rossetti presents nature in her poems

Nature is a topic present in many of Rossetti’s poems and it is often the case that the imagery and symbolism that she uses overlap between her texts. The significance of nature in her poetry is similar to that of Keats’ work, by whom it is likely that she was influenced. Religion was hugely significant in Rossetti’s life and the Romantic style in which she often uses nature to demonstrate God’s presence in the world is similar to the work of Romantic poets such as Keats. Overall, Rossetti uses natural imagery in her poetry to emphasise the faults in society in contrast to the beauty of God’s creation.

‘Paradise: In a Dream’ is a poem hugely focused on nature and the beauty of God behind it. The title itself highlights the contrast between the beauty of God and the faults in society as the fact that she uses a caesura after “paradise”, followed by “in a dream”, implies that she is aware that “paradise” cannot be reached in this world, as a dream is something that is often beyond the realm of possibility, or perhaps something that someone deeply longs for, even sometimes on a subconscious level. The slight pause that the caesura creates stresses the distance between “paradise” and the society in which Rossetti lived, where “paradise” to Rossetti is just that – a dream.

Rossetti also contrasts the beauty of nature with the faults in society in the poem ‘Shut out’. In this poem she creates a scenario where the persona is blocked from a “garden” by an abstract force. Rossetti describes this force as being a “shadowless spirit”. The use of sibilance here suggests that this force is a sinister one, as the sound it creates has connotations of snakes and slithering, as if the words creep through the line. Snakes are a significant image in Christianity with regards to evil, as they are often used to represent Lucifer, as he appeared in this form to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Perhaps Rossetti is suggesting that this invisible force blocking the persona from the “garden” is the evil and corruption of society. The “garden” is described as being a place full of harmony, “from bough to bough”. The repetition of the word “bough” separated only by the single preposition “to” implies the vastness of nature and the fertility of the “garden”, as it suggests that there are many boughs that the song birds can fly between. The monosyllabic word placed between the two “boughs” makes them feel very close together, thus suggesting that the garden is densely populated with trees. The rhythm of this phrase also makes it flow very easily, suggesting that the “song-birds” can flit between the trees with ease. It is possible that this is a representation of women in Victorian society, and namely Rossetti herself, as birds are a trope in her poetry and are often used to represent poets. Is Rossetti suggesting that the corruption of society, and specifically the misogyny and stereotyping that women faced, is preventing them from the freedom that the “song birds” have to move and do as they wish?

  The assonance of the next line, which mirrors the previous one, “from flower to flower”, further stresses the sense of harmony that Rossetti creates between the living things of the garden. Rossetti could be suggesting that the “shadowless spirit”, or the corruption of society, is preventing people from living how God designed them to live and the way in which society forces them to do things that make them unhappy, for example, women not being able to speak their views openly and being forced to conform to society’s idealised version of how a woman should be, is unnatural. Being a female Victorian writer, it is likely that Rossetti felt extremely constrained with regards to her writing and what was considered acceptable for her to express through her poetry.

This idea that society forces people to act in a way that they might not naturally behave is also suggested in ‘Maude Clare’. Rossetti uses the image of “lilies” to suggest a romantic relationship that may have taken place between ‘Maude Clare’ and ‘Thomas’, “the lilies are budding now”. The use of the metaphor of “lilies” to represent the relationship or feelings between ‘Maude Clare’ and ‘Thomas’, implies that this relationship is a natural and beautiful thing, as flowers such as lilies are often admired as delicate things of beauty. The use of the present tense, “are” and “now”, suggests that they could still be together and still share feelings for one another. However, the rules and customs of society forbid them to marry one another, despite their natural compatibility. Instead ‘Thomas’ is forced to ignore the natural feelings that he feels for ‘Maude Clare’, that are still very much alive and not even at their full potential yet, as suggested by the image of “budding”, and has no choice but to marry a woman that he doesn’t love and ignore how he would naturally act. By using “lilies” as a metaphor for love or sensuality, Rossetti suggests that society forces people to ignore what is natural and beautiful and do things that make them unhappy and which go against the natural order of things.

God was hugely significant in Rossetti’s life, and the beauty and harmony of His natural world served to highlight to Rossetti the flaws of the man-made society in which she resided. As shown in these poems, this realisation was repeatedly significant in her work and how she viewed Victorian society.