Why was the Partridge in the Pear Tree? by Mark Lawson-Jones Page B
Authors: Mark Lawson-Jones
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an Inn.
The title page of the first edition of Goblin Market.
Another of Rossetti’s poems, ‘The Iniquity of the Fathers Upon the Children’ is a dramatic poem that deals with the issue of illegitimate children, by imagining that she herself is one. She had spent much time in charitable work at a home in Highgate, which was devoted to prostitutes and unmarried mothers. Much of her work at this time dealt with the chasm between the rich and poor, the injustice she witnessed on a daily basis and her desire for a fairer society.
Many writers have questioned what might have been if Rossetti hadn’t been born into the early nineteenth century, where women poets and authors were silenced. In the male-centred culture in which she found herself, Rossetti challenged the status quo, creating her own world-view that provided fertile soil for her poetry and other women of the time. Her achievement cannot be underestimated; it is little known that at one stage she was seriously considered for Poet Laureate. Later in her career, Rossetti abandoned political subjects and concentrated more on the spiritual side of her art.
When her father’s failing health and eyesight forced him to retire in 1853, Christina and her mother supported the family by starting a day school, but had to give it up after a year or so.
In the early 1860s she fell in love with Charles Cayley, who was famous for translating the work of Dante, an Italian poet of the Middle Ages, into English from the original. But according to her brother, William, refused to marry him because ‘she enquired into his creed and found he was not a Christian.’ After this, she lived the life of a Victorian spinster, staying at home with her circle of her brother’s friends which included author of Alice in Wonderland , Lewis Carroll; the American artist James Abbott MacNeil Whistler; and the English poet, playwright and novelist Algernon Charles Swinburne.
She continued to write and in the 1870s she worked for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Her brother Dante suffered a breakdown in 1872, which seriously affected her.
The poem ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ was almost certainly written by Christina Rossetti around this time. It was published posthumously in 1906 not as a poem, but set to music by the English composer Gustav Holst as possibly one of the most atmospheric and moving Christmas carols of all time. Indeed in 2008, the setting by another English composer Harold Darke, which differs from Holst’s arrangement including a solo as the first verse, was voted the best carol according to the BBC Music Magazine , which questioned fifty-one directors of music in the UK and US. The deputy editor, Jeremy Pound, stated that the words were ‘nigh on perfect as a carol text’.
The carol not only sets the Christmas scene in a beautifully descriptive way, it is also a complete guide to the Christian faith at Christmastime. In the first verse, Rossetti paints the picture of the circumstances of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
In verse two, Rossetti contrasts the incarnation with the second coming, stating that the birth was part of a cosmic plan, which would eventually bring about heaven on earth. She also highlights the poverty into which the child was born.
The third verse is a contrast, the cold harshness of the weather outside and the warmth of Mary in the stable. The presence of the animals also underlines the circumstances of the birth.
In the fourth verse, Rossetti gives us a touching picture of Mary kissing Jesus with great affection and a scene of invisible angels celebrating the birth. This reminds us that in the midst of such an important event there is something natural and genuine. This verse might have been a little mysterious for Darke, because it doesn’t appear in his setting.
The final verse is, of course, an echo back to Rossetti’s earlier work. She presents a challenge to those who would profess a faith, encouraging them to turn
The title page of the first edition of Goblin Market.
Another of Rossetti’s poems, ‘The Iniquity of the Fathers Upon the Children’ is a dramatic poem that deals with the issue of illegitimate children, by imagining that she herself is one. She had spent much time in charitable work at a home in Highgate, which was devoted to prostitutes and unmarried mothers. Much of her work at this time dealt with the chasm between the rich and poor, the injustice she witnessed on a daily basis and her desire for a fairer society.
Many writers have questioned what might have been if Rossetti hadn’t been born into the early nineteenth century, where women poets and authors were silenced. In the male-centred culture in which she found herself, Rossetti challenged the status quo, creating her own world-view that provided fertile soil for her poetry and other women of the time. Her achievement cannot be underestimated; it is little known that at one stage she was seriously considered for Poet Laureate. Later in her career, Rossetti abandoned political subjects and concentrated more on the spiritual side of her art.
When her father’s failing health and eyesight forced him to retire in 1853, Christina and her mother supported the family by starting a day school, but had to give it up after a year or so.
In the early 1860s she fell in love with Charles Cayley, who was famous for translating the work of Dante, an Italian poet of the Middle Ages, into English from the original. But according to her brother, William, refused to marry him because ‘she enquired into his creed and found he was not a Christian.’ After this, she lived the life of a Victorian spinster, staying at home with her circle of her brother’s friends which included author of Alice in Wonderland , Lewis Carroll; the American artist James Abbott MacNeil Whistler; and the English poet, playwright and novelist Algernon Charles Swinburne.
She continued to write and in the 1870s she worked for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Her brother Dante suffered a breakdown in 1872, which seriously affected her.
The poem ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ was almost certainly written by Christina Rossetti around this time. It was published posthumously in 1906 not as a poem, but set to music by the English composer Gustav Holst as possibly one of the most atmospheric and moving Christmas carols of all time. Indeed in 2008, the setting by another English composer Harold Darke, which differs from Holst’s arrangement including a solo as the first verse, was voted the best carol according to the BBC Music Magazine , which questioned fifty-one directors of music in the UK and US. The deputy editor, Jeremy Pound, stated that the words were ‘nigh on perfect as a carol text’.
The carol not only sets the Christmas scene in a beautifully descriptive way, it is also a complete guide to the Christian faith at Christmastime. In the first verse, Rossetti paints the picture of the circumstances of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
In verse two, Rossetti contrasts the incarnation with the second coming, stating that the birth was part of a cosmic plan, which would eventually bring about heaven on earth. She also highlights the poverty into which the child was born.
The third verse is a contrast, the cold harshness of the weather outside and the warmth of Mary in the stable. The presence of the animals also underlines the circumstances of the birth.
In the fourth verse, Rossetti gives us a touching picture of Mary kissing Jesus with great affection and a scene of invisible angels celebrating the birth. This reminds us that in the midst of such an important event there is something natural and genuine. This verse might have been a little mysterious for Darke, because it doesn’t appear in his setting.
The final verse is, of course, an echo back to Rossetti’s earlier work. She presents a challenge to those who would profess a faith, encouraging them to turn
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