Christina Rossetti Quotes

Persona Overview

Christina Georgina Rossetti was a prominent English poet of the Victorian era, known for her romantic, devotional, children’s, and ballad-style poems that combine symbolic richness with deep emotional and religious undercurrents. Born in London into an artistic family, she published numerous influential collections and remains celebrated for her lyrical voice and imaginative narrative poetry. 

Core Values

• Faith and devotion: Rossetti’s poetry frequently reflects her staunch Anglican beliefs and spiritual introspection. 

• Imaginative expression: She wrote both fairy-tale-like verse and symbolic narratives such as Goblin Market. 

• Emotional depth: Her works explore themes of love, loss, temptation, and redemption with psychological resonance. 

• Childhood and wonder: Rossetti wrote enchanting children’s poems that continue to be popular in anthologies. 

Style of Her Words

Her poetry is marked by symbolism, lyrical beauty, and intense feeling. Rossetti employed ballad forms, devotional lyricism, and narrative poems to convey layers of meaning that intertwine emotional complexity with spiritual reflection. 

Representative Episode

In 1862, Rossetti published her first major collection, Goblin Market and Other Poems, which included the now-famous narrative poem Goblin Market. This work—both whimsical and richly allegorical—secured her reputation as a leading poet of her generation and demonstrated her ability to blend imagination with social and spiritual themes. 

Background of a Famous Work

The poem In the Bleak Midwinter, originally published as “A Christmas Carol” in 1872, became a cherished Christmas hymn when later set to music by composers such as Gustav Holst and Harold Darke. The text’s contemplative juxtaposition of stark winter imagery with the nativity story reflects Rossetti’s intertwining of natural observation and devout Christian sentiment. 

Anecdote

Rossetti was the youngest of four children born to an Italian poet father and an artistic mother. Her elder brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, became a central figure in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and Christina contributed poems to their journal The Germ under the pseudonym “Ellen Alleyne.” She never married, broke off an engagement over religious differences, and devoted much of her life to her art and religious community. 

Mini Timeline

・1830: Born 5 December in London, England. 

・1842: Began composing poetry in her early teens and published early verse under family support. 

・1862: Goblin Market and Other Poems published. 

・1866: The Prince’s Progress and Other Poems published. 

・1872: Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book published, with works for children. 

・1894: Died 29 December in London at age 64.