- Dec 2015
-
www.poetryfoundation.org www.poetryfoundation.org
-
Laura awoke as from a dream, Laugh’d in the innocent old way,
This is showing how she has been freed from her sins, due to her sister's selfless act.
-
ratel
south african animal that looks like a badger
-
Life out of death. That night long Lizzie watch’d by her, Counted her pulse’s flagging stir, Felt for her breath, Held water to her lips, and cool’d her face With tears and fanning leaves:
Jesus Christ also brought eternal life and salvation back from his journey through death and hell. In painting Lizzie as a Christ-like character, this shows how Lizzie did the same, bringing her ailing (sinning) sister her salvation.
-
Do you not remember Jeanie, How she met them in the moonlight, Took their gifts both choice and many, Ate their fruits and wore their flowers Pluck’d from bowers Where summer ripens at all hours? But ever in the noonlight She pined and pined away; Sought them by night and day, Found them no more, but dwindled and grew grey; Then fell with the first snow, While to this day no grass will grow
Jeanie is an example of someone who has lost a battle with the addiction of the goblin fruit. While she believed that she could handle it, she was never able to recreate what she felt that first time, and it led her to essentially deteriorate waiting for more. I believe this to be a commentary on addiction, be it to sex or drugs.
-
“Good folk, I have no coin; To take were to purloin: I have no copper in my purse, I have no silver either, And all my gold is on the furze That shakes in windy weather Above the rusty heather.” “You have much gold upon your head,” They answer’d all together: “Buy from us with a golden curl.” She clipp’d a precious golden lock, She dropp’d a tear more rare than pearl,
At this point, Laura sells her body in exchange for the goblin fruit. This is perhaps a commentary on the prostitutes of the time.Christina Rossetti spent ten years working at a penitentiary for prostitutes. It is through this experience, perhaps, that she gained her sympathy for Laura who she paints not as a whore, but rather a victim.
-
- Nov 2015
-
www.poetryfoundation.org www.poetryfoundation.org
-
She cried, “Laura,” up the garden, “Did you miss me? Come and kiss me. Never mind my bruises, Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices Squeez’d from goblin fruits for you, Goblin pulp and goblin dew. Eat me, drink me, love me; Laura, make much of me; For your sake I have braved the glen And had to do with goblin merchant men.”
This paints Lizzie as a sort of divine or epic character. She has ventured to and from the brink of death generally unharmed. She has brought back with her salvation for her sister. She allows her sister to suck the juices off of her, thus restoring her life. It is sort of biblical in a way, reminiscent of Jesus being crucified and rising for our salvation. This would make sense, as the author was a very religious woman. This would clearly rub off on her work.
-
ne may lead a horse to water, Twenty cannot make him drink. Though the goblins cuff’d and caught her, Coax’d and fought her, Bullied and besought her, Scratch’d her, pinch’d her black as ink, Kick’d and knock’d her, Maul’d and mock’d her, Lizzie utter’d not a word; Would not open lip from lip Lest they should cram a mouthful in: But laugh’d in heart to feel the drip Of juice that syrupp’d all her face, And lodg’d in dimples of her chin, And streak’d her neck which quaked like curd. At last the evil people, Worn out by her resistance, Flung back her penny, kick’d their fruit Along whichever road they took, Not leaving root or stone or shoot; Some writh’d into the ground, Some div’d into the brook With ring and ripple, Some scudded on the gale without a sound, Some vanish’d in the distance.
The goblins finally show their true animalistic nature here. They attack Lizzy having caught onto her plot. They have always seemed to be cunning but have now blatantly displayed their true insidious nature. They could not force Lizzy to eat however. This scene could represent the goblins raping Lizzy in an attempt to steal her innocence. However, in the end, she triumphs, leaving with her purity intact and the cure for her sister in tow.
-
Clearer than water flow’d that juice; She never tasted such before, How should it cloy with length of use? She suck’d and suck’d and suck’d the more Fruits which that unknown orchard bore; She suck’d until her lips were sore; Then flung the emptied rinds away But gather’d up one kernel stone, And knew not was it night or day As she turn’d home alone.
The word "suck'd" is repeated many times in this selection, and carries a bit of eroticism along with it. She appears to become drunk on the goblin fruit, losing track of the time. This did not deter her from sucking to her hearts content, discarding what was used up and sucking some more. It implies a massive indulgence in a loss of purity.
-
Laura stretch’d her gleaming neck Like a rush-imbedded swan, Like a lily from the beck, Like a moonlit poplar branch, Like a vessel at the launch When its last restraint is gone.
Laura has lifted her symbolic anchor and let her guard down for these goblin men. She has made the decision to partake in their market and experience what she can. Her innocence is shown in a few lines when she has no money, however that innocence is taken away when the goblins instead choose to take from her body. Hair in this case. But a piece of her is taken nonetheless.
-
Days, weeks, months, years Afterwards, when both were wives With children of their own; Their mother-hearts beset with fears, Their lives bound up in tender lives; Laura would call the little ones And tell them of her early prime, Those pleasant days long gone Of not-returning time: Would talk about the haunted glen, The wicked, quaint fruit-merchant men, Their fruits like honey to the throat But poison in the blood; (Men sell not such in any town): Would tell them how her sister stood In deadly peril to do her good, And win the fiery antidote: Then joining hands to little hands Would bid them cling together, “For there is no friend like a sister In calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, To fetch one if one goes astray, To lift one if one totters down, To strengthen whilst one stands.”
This entire conclusion sticks out to the reader. It does not appear to fit in with the rest of the piece at all, and includes a weird little lesson learned type of scenario in which it informs you that there is no friend like a sister... etc. This was clearly inserted for the younger readers (supposedly intended audience) to take something away from the piece. However, to the adults, picking at a deeper reading, this is just a throw away.
-
One had a cat’s face, One whisk’d a tail, One tramp’d at a rat’s pace, One crawl’d like a snail, One like a wombat prowl’d obtuse and furry, One like a ratel tumbled hurry skurry. She heard a voice like voice of doves Cooing all together: They sounded kind and full of loves In the pleasant weather.
This scene would stick out to the piece's intended readers... children.
-
Laura bow’d her head to hear, Lizzie veil’d her blushes: Crouching close together
Something has embarrassed or surprised the sisters causing them to bow their heads and blush respectively. It is possibly the cries of the goblins urging them to try these fruits.
-
With clasping arms and cautioning lips, With tingling cheeks and finger tips.
This along with the blushing implies excitement on the sisters' behalf, in correlation with the danger/unknown element that the goblins bring.
-
“We must not look at goblin men, We must not buy their fruits: Who knows upon what soil they fed Their hungry thirsty roots?”
This is the first obvious hint at the sexuality present in this poem. It seems that the sisters are wondering whether they could be made impure by indulging with the goblins. Indulging would obviously include becoming tied to their possibly dirty pasts.
-
Apples and quinces, Lemons and oranges, Plump unpeck’d cherries, Melons and raspberries, Bloom-down-cheek’d peaches, Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;— All ripe together In summer weather,— Morns that pass by, Fair eves that fly; Come buy, come buy: Our grapes fresh from the vine, Pomegranates full and fine, Dates and sharp bullaces, Rare pears and greengages, Damsons and bilberries, Taste them and try: Currants and gooseberries, Bright-fire-like barberries, Figs to fill your mouth, Citrons from the South, Sweet to tongue and sound to eye; Come buy, come buy.”
Pineapples and the Citrons from the south would have needed to be imported to 19th century England. They do not grow naturally in England's climate, which makes them an interesting choice for the author to place on the goblin merchants' menu.
-
Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: “Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy:
It is implied that only unmarried females can hear the goblin's cries.
-
claiming Goblin Market for the project
-
-
www.rc.umd.edu www.rc.umd.edu
-
Eftsones I heard the dash of oars, I heard the pilot's cheer:
I wasn't sure what the word Eftsones meant so I looked into it. It is an alternate spelling of the word Eftsoons. The definition is as follows, "A modest meane to Mariage, pleasauntly set foorth."
-
-
www.rc.umd.edu www.rc.umd.edu
-
It is interesting that the guest fears the mariner so much. The way he describes the Mariner is reminiscent of someone describing a supernatural encounter. This makes me wonder whether or not the Mariner is a spirit rather than an actual person. He talks about being alone on the ship after everyone has died at sea, and it causes me to wonder whether or not he too has perished, though he claims to have been the only survivor, and his punishment in the afterlife is to wander around telling his story.
-
- Oct 2015
-
www.rc.umd.edu www.rc.umd.edu
-
The Mariner is gone now, however the question as to whether or not he is DONE arises. The Mariner is clearly seeking redemption for the voyage doomed mostly by his own hand. His penance appears to be telling the story to anyone who will listen. He has left his impression on this wedding guest in search of some sort of catharsis or redemption, but it is probably safe to say, that the guilt will soon re-emerge within him, causing this scene to play out time and time again.
-
-
www.rc.umd.edu www.rc.umd.edu
-
Ah wel-a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young; Instead of the Cross the Albatross About my neck was hung.
Hanging the bird around his neck and relating it to the cross is a clear mockery of the innocent bird. I feel that he is being related to jesus, who was also mocked and killed, while only bringing a good message, just like the Albatross. To mock the Albatross in this fashion is giving its killer a sense of no wrong doing as others join in. This is also how the crucifixion of Jesus played out, with plenty of mockery.
-
Ne dim ne red, like God's own head, The glorious Sun uprist: Then all averr'd, I had kill'd the Bird That brought the fog and mist. T'was right, said they, such birds to slay That bring the fog and mist.
Through confusion and worry they've deemed this bird that is meant to be a sign of good luck and fortune to be a bringer of fog and mist. Through this unanimous condemnation of the bird, they have justified, to themselves, its killing. I feel that this isn't entirely sincere, and they are stating this fact because they are indeed scared that they may have botched any chances they had for good fortune, and would like to feel better about what has been done. This ties in with the religious connotations a little bit later in the poem.
-