THE WOODSPURGE

By Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The Poem

• The wind flapped loose, the wind was still, Shaken out dead from tree and hill: I had walked on at the wind's will, — I sat now, for the wind was still.

• Between my knees my forehead was, — My lips, drawn in, said not Alas! My hair was over in the grass, My naked ears heard the day pass.

• My eyes, wide open, had the run Of some ten weeds to fix upon; Among those few, out of the sun, The woodspurge flowered, three cups in one.

• From perfect grief there need not be Wisdom or even memory: One thing then learnt remains to me, — The woodspurge has a cup of three.

The WoodspurgeBy Dante Gabriel Rossetti

• Name: Dante Gabriel Rossetti• Born 12 May 1828• Died 9 April 1882• Age of Death 53 years, 10 month, 28 days• Family : Rossetti was the third child of an unusually gifted family which provided a rich

cultural background. Rossetti's father, Gabriel, was a political exile who fled Italy because of his liberal activities and writing, later becoming a professor of Italian at King's College in London and publishing several critical works that established him as an authority on the great Italian poet Dante. Rossetti's mother, Frances Mary Lavina Polidori, of mixed English and Italian blood, was a remarkable teacher devoting herself to educating her four children in the home. She taught them English, French, and Italian literature and encouraged their creativity.

• Rossetti himself was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He is also one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 (a group of English painter, poets, and critics, also with John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt)

• Brother to Christina Rossetti

Poet’s Background

• Britain in the 1800s had changed little in centuries. It was a rural. It is also the end of the Classical period in music and culture, and moving into the Romantic period. • Britain saw a huge population increase

accompanied by rapid urbanization stimulated by the Industrial Revolution. The large numbers of skilled and unskilled people looking for work kept wages down to barely subsistence level. Available housing was scarce and expensive, resulting in overcrowding.

• Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837 - 1901) and of the moral climate of Great Britain throughout the 19th century in general, which contrasted greatly with the morality of the previous Georgian period. Victorian morality can describe any set of values that espouse sexual restraint, low tolerance of crime and a strict social code of conduct. Due to the prominence of the British Empire, many of these values were spread across the world.

Social Background

• Written when Rossetti is 28 in 1856, using simple language like his sister, expressing himself in deep grief and isolation. Also just like his sister, using images of nature as he end up focusing on a little three pedal plant, a wood-spurge. While using this flower to symbolize nature, it also stands for its religious significance.

• The use of this simple language also indicates the simplicity of nature which in the end, acts as a spiritual force to guide and comfort him, as he is overwhelmed by grief and sadness due to the death of his wife

• In particular, the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal had a big impact on his life and work. She had taken an overdose of laudanum (opium alcohol) shortly after giving birth to a stillborn child. Rossetti became increasingly depressed, and upon the death of his beloved Elizabeth, buried the bulk of his published poems with her at Highgate Cemetery, though he would later have them dug back up….

• Things to consider…• Is the poet really just seeing a little plant? • What does he learn from this experience?• What is the meaning of “cup of three” and how is it related to religion?• Pay close attention to the rhythm scheme.

THEME/ MORE BACK GROUND

The poem starts with the line “the wind flapped loose, the wind was still,” creating a depressive mood befitting the innermost feelings of the poet at the time. The fact that the “wind is still” also indicates his disappointment and his loss of faith in socio-political life of England at the time.

Stanza 1

The depressive mood is reinforced by the image of death in the line “shaken out dead from tree and hill”, which generates a stifling atmosphere engulfing the poet with its indication of lifelessness. Then the poet states that “I had walked on at the wind’s will,” creating a sense of close relationship between him and nature, which foregrounds the uplifting power of nature he is going to receive towards the end of the poem.

• Then in the next stanza, the simple description of his actions further indicates his depressive feeling and contemplation. “Between my knees my forehead was,” creating a vivid image of dejection and despair which the poet experiences. The poet’s low spirit continues and worsens as he says “My lips, drawn in, said not Alas!” indicating a strong feeling and an extreme low spirit feeling.

Stanza 2

Not only does the poet feel depressed, there is also a loss in faith in the visionary that every writer needs. The sad and depressive image is further extended as the poet describes himself: “My hair was over in the grass. / My naked ears heard the day pass”, generating a sense of coldness. He is there alone to feel grief and sadness for a long time.

• While still in grief and contemplation, the poet finds hope to uplift his spirit as he sees the flowering of a wood spurge - “The Woodspurge flowered, three cups in one.” This three-petal flower not only gives a sense of nature but also a strong sense of religion relating the holy trinity, both of which offer him an uplifting power. As well as the holy trinity, the mention of the sun this is a connotation of God and religious ideas - “Among those few, out of the sun.”

Stanza 3ish

Also, the three-petal flower stands for his wish to have by his side his wife, whose death may have been the main reason for his present grief-stricken state of mind, as the flower firmly holds its loved ones the way it holds its petals.

• After their epiphanic (realization) moment he realizes that there is nothing to be learnt and gained from grief - “From perfect grief there need not be / Wisdom or even memory.” The oxymoronic description of perfect grief implies the poet’s sarcastic opinion of poems or philosophical wisdom that derives from grief, or more specifically, bereavement(his wife).

Around the end

The reason for this is given: “One thing then learnt remains to me / The Woodspurge has a cup of three”. He realizes that that there is no need for such depressive feeling of sadness, now that he can enjoy the soothing and comforting power of nature and holy trinity as embodied in the Woodspurge.

The End