Rossetti was a poet who used poems to express powerful
matters as woman in the 19th century didn’t have a voice within
society’s rules; this is shown through women not having the chance to vote. Throughout
her poems, references towards nature were widely used to express her emotions
and thoughts upon different subjects. Nature is an important factor within
Rossetti’s poems as she’s able to use it to portray many different aspects.
Rossetti also used nature to express her views on her religion and love towards
god. This was subject was argued upon as many people felt Rossetti should
praise and worship the spirit of god not the topic of nature. Overall it is
clear that nature is used to express Rossetti’s buried emotions and personal
beliefs for the things she loves and may have lost.
The poem ‘Shut Out’ is about how the speaker is blocked from
all the things he/she loves due to sin. In my opinion, the garden symbolises the
speaker’s imagination and childhood which he/she can’t engage with because the
‘shadowless spirt’ guards the gate. Within the line ‘A shadowless spirit kept
the gate’ demonstrates how something is ceasing the speaker from entering, from
a religious view the block may be the speaker’s sinful self. By using
alliteration, Rossetti empathises the block on the garden. The repetition of
the ‘S’ in ‘Shadowless spirit’ not only portrays a figure which limits the
speakers access to the garden but also highlights the speakers split self;
stereotypical Victorian woman and beautifully free poet. The use of a garden
suggests that it’s a personal place for the speaker as is portrayed as their
sanctuary. The garden is ‘pied with all flowers bedewed and green’ which
creates the image of a beautiful, two coloured paradise. The verb ‘bedewed’
suggest the garden is fresh and acts as a metaphor for the speaker’s childhood which
highers their desperation to enter the garden and encourages her to search for
a way in. Another way nature shows the greatness of the garden is through the
use of complementing words within the second stanza. Through the line ‘From
flower to flower the moths and bees;’ the feeling pf protection is created as
bees and flowers hold a relationship which easily fits together.
The poem ‘Shut Out’ also holds religious aspects due to the
fact the speaker’s safe haven could link with the Garden of Eden. The religious
garden was moulded as a paradise which held great things but also held the
power of sin which a person should resist. Rossetti was interested in the Anglo-Catholic
movement which implies her poem holds religious qualities through the use of
nature. The speaker’s longing for their garden is expressed through the line
‘Let me have some buds to cheer my outcast state.’ The reference the ‘bud’
shows that the speaker will take the smallest aspect of nature from the garden
as they know it will be the last time he/she will see it again. It highlights the desperation the speaker has
and creates a sense of determination when they’re turned away but speaks twice
to convince the ‘guard’ to allow them access into the garden. I believe that
the line ‘Buy one small twig from shrub or tree;’ shows how dedicated Rossetti
was to overpower the stereotypical views on ‘silent women’ and state her
opinion. The fact that the speaker spoke twice to ask for permission to enter
the garden shows power and braveness even though the speaker was answered with
a ‘No.’ Another reason nature is used within this line is because a ‘twig’ is a
tiny part of nature and doesn’t really hold any importance compared to another
aspect of nature such as a flower. The ‘twig’ may metaphorically represent the
speaker’s emotions as it can be easily snapped and considered small and
unnoticeable within the garden. The speaker is pleading for the twig as if
they’re pleading to keep their emotions intact.
Another Rossetti poem which uses nature to highlight the
speaker’s emotions and views upon a silent sanctuary is ‘Song.’ This poem holds
an important message which acts almost as the speaker’s last wish before they die.
The use of nature within this poem allows the reader to relate death as a
natural process which doesn’t need special services and remembrance through
flowers and graves. This poem boldly expresses how Rossetti feels about the
life after death through different aspects of nature.
Nature is important within ‘Song’ as it acts a metaphor for
the speaker’s feelings towards death. Within the line ‘Plant thou no roses at
my head’ suggests that the speaker does not want cliché’s during their passing
as an act of remembrance. The use of the ‘roses’ empathises how the speaker
doesn’t need love and admiration when they are dead as they won’t be able to
feel it or admire it. This message implies that nature just like life will
develop and die and will not last forever. The act of planting roses seems
pointless for the speaker because the petals will decay and rot.
Another way Rossetti uses nature to indicate that nothing
lasts forever is through the line ‘Nor shady cypress tree.’ The tree represents
mourning and has a dismal effect upon the poem. The line translates into ‘No
mourning’ this demonstrates how forceful Rossetti was about her views upon
death which was a difficult topic to discuss being a woman in the 19th
century.
Although the first four lines of stanza one shows that the
speaker doesn’t seem to care if they’re remembered or forgotten when they’ve
died, the line ‘be the green grass above me’ suggests that they make feel
insecure and scared that they may be forgotten. The image portrayed, is green
grass above the grave which acts as a layer of protection for the speaker and
gives insight of the speaker’s emotions. The adjective ‘green’ implies peace
and calmness which creates a tranquil atmosphere for the poem.
Within both poems, Rossetti uses nature to illuminate her
thoughts and feelings of a powerful topic. Death and forgiveness of sin are
portrayed as a subject which can be talked about and expressed by a woman
through the power of nature. This is because nature is a simple part of life
which everyone interacts with daily.
