Christina Rossetti Imagery Task: My heart is like…. Write 4 similes of your own.

A Birthday My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a water'd shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in a halcyon sea; My heart is gladder than all these Because my love is come to me. Raise me a dais of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dyes; Carve it in doves and pomegranates, And peacocks with a hundred eyes; Work it in gold and silver grapes, In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys; Because the birthday of my life Is come, my love is come to me.

. Questions: How does the repetition of ‘my heart’ in stanza 1 affect the reader? How is characteristic of Rossetti’s style? What other techniques foreground these lines? How is a sense of mystery created in the poem? Who is the lover? What is the dias (low stage) for? Why do you think that she moves from describing the natural world to objects that have been man- made? Is the poem about the speaker’s day of birth or could it have another reading? What other poem could this link to? The poem is 2 octave and each line is in tetrameter – what sense of rhythm does this create? How does it influence the tone of the poem? The poem has a very Pre-Raphaelite quality (clarity or nature and brightness). How do the images in the poem create this quality?

WAGOLL The repetition of ‘My heart’ in the alternate lines of the first stanza create a building sense of excitement and celebration. The different similes express how the speaker cannot find a direct way of expressing this pure joy. The use of natural comparisons ‘like an apple-tree’ convey to the reader how the joy cannot be easily explained. If we read the poem as a devotional poem it shows us how ‘my love’ could be the love of God. This is characteristic of Rossetti’s deceptively simple style in the way she is explaining a very complex but seemingly simple emotion.

Biblical references: The imagery used in the first stanza draws on familiar natural objects but can also be read at another level in the light of Rossetti's knowledge of the Bible. In the second verse, the focus is on artificial objects hung, carved and worked by human hands. Various images in this verse demonstrate an awareness of traditional Christian art, as well as reflecting and celebrating human creativity.BibleChristian

A watered shoot - By having a ‘nest' in a ‘watered shoot' (line 2), the speaker suggests that the sustenance upon which she can live and rest has been provided: The idea of being watered has biblical connotations. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, the believers in Jerusalem are encouraged by God's promise that he will guide them and provide for their needs:connotationOld TestamentIsaiahJerusalemGod The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs … You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11 TNIVIsaiah 58:11

An apple tree - The image of the ‘apple tree / Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit' (lines 3-4) would be a familiar sight in an age more in touch with its agricultural roots than today Mention of apples might also lead Rossetti's readers to think of the accounts of the first humans in the Garden of Eden before the Fallwhere they lived in perfect peace with nature and one another. It is also likely that Rossetti is alluding to the biblical concept of theTree of Life. The writer of the Old Testament book Proverbs, declares that those who ‘lay hold' of this tree ‘will be blessed' (Proverbs 3:18).Garden of EdenFallTree of LifeOld TestamentProverbsProverbs 3:18

Rainbow … halcyon - By speaking of her heart as a ‘rainbow shell / That paddles in a halcyon sea' (lines 5-6), the speaker provides an image of exuberant colour drifting at ease in tranquil waters. According to the Bible, the image of the rainbow refers to the fulfilment of God's promises, when God helped Noah to escape theflood which wiped out the known world. He then set a rainbow in the sky as a promise that never again would such an event occur (Genesis 19:3)NoahfloodGenesis 19:3 It is possible that the speaker perceives that God's promises are being fulfilled in her life and wants to celebrate this The term ‘halcyon' comes from the Greek myth of a bird (possibly a kingfisher) which was said to breed about the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea. According to ancient writers, it charmed the wind and waves so that the sea was especially calm during the period. For English readers, the phrase ‘halcyon days' was associated with ideas of joy, prosperity and tranquillity The poem's speaker uses the image of the halcyon sea to indicate the deep comfort and rest she has found. By ending the first verse with the declaration that her ‘heart is gladder than all these' (line 7), the speaker indicates that descriptions of the natural world are incapable of fully expressing her exuberant emotional state.

The Temple - Rossetti draws on the imagery used in the Old Testament to discuss the Temple which symbolised God's presence with his people. For the Jews in the Old Testament, the Temple was the place where they met with God. A Birthday mentions purple hangings, carved fruit and statues of animals, which all figure in the descriptions of Solomon's Temple given in 1 Kings 6:14, 1 Kings 6:18, 1 Kings 6:29 and 2 Chronicles 3:14 and 2 Chronicles 3:16. More on the Temple: In the teachings of the early church, recounted in the New Testament, the idea of God's Temple shifts in meaning. Christians generally understand this Temple to be a model of an individual's heart, where God communicates with the human soul. This understanding comes from the New Testament teaching that every Christian believer is understood as a temple in which the Holy Spirit can dwell.

A Dais - The word ‘dais' (line 9) indicates a raised platform. The speaker seems to envisage a structure built in celebration of the return of her love. The ‘silk and down' from which it is made are materials of softness and luxury, as well as conveying lightness, which adds to the sense of uplifting that the poem conveys ‘Dais' is also a word commonly associated with the raised part of achurch upon which the altar and communion table are placed. Rossetti attended a high Anglican church (see Religious / philosophical context > Tractarianism) which emphasised the significance and symbolism of the structure of the church building and would have undoubtedly made use of a dais.churchaltarcommunionhigh Anglican churchTractarianism

Birds - Following the description of the singing bird in the first verse, the second alludes to representation of doves and peacocks on the dais. Doves are used in the Bible to represent: Dove Reconciliation and peace. This arises from the story of Noah, when a dove sent out from the Ark returns with an olive leaf in its beak, signifying that the storm / flood was over (Genesis 8:11)ArkfloodGenesis 8:11 The Holy Spirit, as at the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16)Holy SpiritbaptismJesusMatthew 3:16 The description of ‘peacocks with a hundred eyes' (line 12) corresponds to a traditional and mythical understanding of the bird as a symbol of all-seeing God.God