Christina Rossetti, a Victorian poet, expressed nature to portray spiritual imagery in her poetry. Rossetti wrote about nature in her poetry often, comparing its beauty to her emotions surrounding death, like in 'Song'. Although she lived in London, the theme of nature being paradisiac is constant throughout her poetry. A lot of this imagery was influenced by earlier poet John Keats, such as the nightingale in her poem 'Song'. As a high Anglican, Rossetti embraces nature, as it was seen as a gift from God. Describing it as utopian, she constistently related her love of nature to her love of God. Overall, Rossetti uses nature to project her love for God, and the admiration she has for nature, due to the freedom it gives her.

The rejection of classic religious rituals is hinted at by Rossetti in her poem 'Song'. The persona demands that "no roses" should be left at her head "nor shady cypres tree". These plants were both often used at funerals, as religious rituals after death. These commands imply that although Rossetti was High Anglican, she does not want to be remembered by a ritual, which is forced and artificial. The command "Be the green grass above me" also suggests this, as it implies that she would rather be a continuum of natures cycle. The stress of the word "be", forcing a break in the iambic trimeter is used. This furthers the command and makes it an unnatural rhytm, perhaps used to highlight the personas rejection for artificial remembrance. This idea is also featured in the poem "Paradise: in a dream", when the persona describes the tree of life's fruit as "sweeter than honey". Again, a rejection for ritual is suggested, as Christ is supposed to be signified as a plain piece of wafer bread. The taste of honey is described as being the best taste possible, reinforcing the idea that the poet is projecting her dislikening for man-made foods and rituals, such as wafer bread. Because honey is created by bees, the sweetness of it may imply the persona's adoration for creation, hinting that the bees represent God, who creates natural perfection. Describing honey as an idyllic taste, the persona applies this to nature being the best thing created by God. Through personas, Rossetti clearly portrays her lack of interest in religious rituals and amplifies her love for God through nature in each of her poems.

The persona in the poem "Shut Out" uses birds to suggest the poet's lack of freedom. In this poem, the persona enviously describes how the birds are able to easily fly in and out of what was once her garden. "Song birds crossed" depicts how easily the birds are able to enter and leave the garden, as pedestrians would cross a road, or how they can leave their homes whenever they please without fear of it being taken away. This may also suggest the poet's feelings surrounding her lack of freedom during the time the poem was written, when the Women's Suffrage movement became national due to the fact that men and women were not seen as equals in society, and social norms were often based on patriarchal views. Although Rossetti was not a part of the Women's Suffrage movement, she was heavily affected by the inequality between sexes in society. In the poem 'Song', the persona also uses a bird to project the poet's lack of freedom. In this poem, the persona states "I shall not hear the nightingale / sing on, as if in pain;". This implies that death frees the persona, and also perhaps the poet, from hearing anymore pain. It may also imply that the persona is free from the burden of inequality, a pain caused by the patriarchal society of the time. Relating to context, Rossetti helped women who wanted to come out of prostitution in the 1860s. This may link to these lines in the poem, because Rossetti, much like the persona of this poem, does not wish to hear of other people's pain.The word 'Nightingale" follows a different, spontaneous rhythm in comparison to the iambic trimeter used in the rest of the poem. The differentiated rhythm highlights the spontaneity of nature in comparison to the repetivity of man-made ritual mentioned in the stanza before. The break in the continous rhythm may also suggest the persona's break from man-made reality, and newly found freedom in death.

Compare and contrast how Rossetti shows her views on death and the after-life in the poems ‘Song’ and ‘Remember’.

Heavily influenced by earlier poet John Keats, Christina Rossetti features the theme of death often in her poetry. Particularly in the poems ‘Song’ and ‘Remember’, Rossetti uses a persona to present her ideas about the transition from life to death, and how their lovers should feel about it. The theme of death is typical for poetry written in the Romantic era (approximately from 1800-1850), a period both Keats and Rossetti belonged to. Romantic poems would often feature nature, and the sensations felt around this, and the repressed feelings the poets may have surrounding life and death.

In the poem ‘Song’, Rossetti uses natural imagery to present the persona’s feelings about their death. In the third and fourth lines of the poem, the persona requests that no ‘roses’ should be planted on his/her grave, and no ‘shady cypress tree’ should be placed in their memory. This perhaps suggests that the persona is telling their lover to move on, and that once they’re dead they don’t want a declaration of love or remembrance. The rejection of roses may symbolize the personas rejection of femininity and beauty, implying that they don’t want their death to be remembered as something over exaggeratedly beautiful, they wish for simplicity, as mentioned in the fifth line of the stanza, when they voice that they want ‘green grass’. The rejection of femininity and beauty from the persona may also reflect Rossetti’s rejection of society’s expectation of women at the time. In the Victorian times, women were expected to be feminine and should obey husbands. Although this was the case, Christina Rossetti was against this view, as she was assertive rather than meek and rejected this expectation of her. Similarly, in the poem ‘Remember’, the persona reflects Rossetti's challenging view on the expectation of women held by society. The persona takes back power, by saying 'only remember me'. This command shows authority, as the speaker is commanding their lover on how to feel after they're dead, contrasting on the point made before stating this, telling her lover not to tell her of their future that 'you plann'd'. By using the word 'you' it makes it clear to the audience that the persona is isolated in the planning of them and their lover's future, again reflecting societies views on power between sexes at the time the poem was written. This isolation felt by the persona is then forced upon their lover, when they die and leave them behind whilst controlling their lover's emotions, just like they were. 

Both poems also use structure to reflect on how the persona struggles to imagine whether they would be remembered or forgotten. In the poem 'Song', both words 'remember' and 'forget' have a caesura before them, to project the final message at the end of the first stanza, the person's insecurity on whether they'll be remembered after death. Although the rhythm in the word 'remember' is elongated, mirroring the memory of the persona lasting after death, the rhythm is immediately stopped after the word 'forget' due to use of a heavy caesura. This rhythm represents the finality of death once a person stops being remembered, and highlights that the persona's fear lies with being forgotten rather than dying. Again, in the poem 'Remember', a caesura is used after the word 'remember', to make it last slightly longer. The idea of remembrance is the key theme in this poem, highlighting how important it is to the speaker to be remembered once they are dead. 

Goblin Market Critics

One critic, Terrance Holt infers the poem 'Goblin Market' by Christina Rossetti to be entirely based on the theme of gender and sexuality. Holt also suggests that the poem is treating the relationship between the goblins (who represent males in Victorian society) and the women - Laura and Lizzie - as a business deal, due to the economic language used, such as the repetition of 'come buy' and words such as 'golden', 'coin' and 'fee'. He also states that due to the hinted theme of sexuality, the poem is 'not only based on gender relations'.