What does faith mean?
Can you define faith?
Christina Rossetti – A Birthday
Christina Rossetti was born in 1830, in London, England. She was something of a prodigy, writing poetry at the age of 12 and having poetry published at the age of 20. The key characteristic of her poetry was the deeply religious imagery (which connected nicely with the Victorian’s fascination with God and religion). Rossetti’s own life was defined by her deep sense of humility, her devotion to her faith, and her belief that spiritual purity could be achieved through self denial. Rossetti never married. A bout of Graves’ disease left her an invalid and ended her social life. She continued to write poetry up until her death in 1894.
My heart is like a singing bird The speaker opens the poem with a simile…
Whose nest is in a water'd shoot; And continues to use the lexical field of nature to describe…
Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit; Natural imagery is used again in line to evoke…
My heart is like a rainbow shell Another simile is used to compare the speaker’s heart to…
That paddles in a halcyon sea; The personification of the heart in this line illustrates…
My heart is gladder than all these Because my love is come to me. The comparative adjective “gladder” emphasises…
Raise me a dais of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dyes; The foregrounding of imperative verbs in these lines…
The religious imagery is this line relates to the story of… Carve it in doves The religious imagery is this line relates to the story of…
and pomegranates, Religious imagery is used again in this line through the reference to “pomegranates”…
And peacocks with a hundred eyes; The religious hyperbole in this line immerses the reader in…
Work it in gold and silver grapes, The syndetic pairing of adjectives in this line combined with religious imagery of “grapes” to suggest to the reader that…
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys; The fleurs-de-lys symbolises the lily,. This is a symbolic reference to…
Because the birthday of my life The literal interpretation of this line suggests… However , the metaphorical symbolism could imply…
Is come, my love is come to me. The use of a refrain in the last line allows the speaker to…
How is faith presented in the poem?
“sophisticated and purposeful application” “accurate and precise use of terminology” Using your knowledge of AO1, what techniques should you focus on in this poem?
How can you include references to context in your response to the question?
Make it better… In Rossetti’s poem, faith is presented as inspiring. Rossetti begins the poem with a simile, “My heart is like a singing bird” as she wants us to realise that her heart is full of joy. This image allow us to believe that the speaker is at peace with her faith and finds comfort in her life of devotion. Interestingly, Rossetti herself lived a very devoted life.
Can you write your own, more developed example? Make it better… AO1 is limited – blend techniques. Confuses poet with speaker. In Rossetti’s poem, faith is presented as inspiring. Rossetti begins the poem with a simile, “My heart is like a singing bird” as she wants us to realise that her heart is full of joy. This image allow us to believe that the speaker is at peace with her faith and finds comfort in her life of devotion. Interestingly, Rossetti herself lived a very devoted life. Limited development AO2 – lack of focus on HOW the image work and links to intention. Lack of AO2 detail – the image has to be explored. Lack of detail in contextual link. Can you write your own, more developed example?