Christina Rossetti

Famous works

• Goblin Market
• Remember
• When I am dead, my dearest
• In the Bleak Midwinter
• A Birthday

A remarkable family

Christina Georgina Rossetti was the youngest of four gifted siblings — her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and her sister Maria and brother William were both writers and critics. Italian exile culture filled the household through their father, the poet and Dante scholar Gabriele Rossetti.

She began writing young and published verse in the Pre-Raphaelite journal 'The Germ.' Her first major collection, 'Goblin Market and Other Poems' (1862), with illustrations by her brother, was a critical triumph.

Goblin Market

'Goblin Market' tells of two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, and the enchanted fruit sold by goblin men. Its rich, incantatory surface has invited readings as a Christian allegory, a tale of addiction and redemption, a feminist text, and a coded exploration of desire — and it sustains all of them at once.

Her shorter lyrics, like 'Remember' and 'When I am dead, my dearest,' compress grief and renunciation into a handful of unforgettable lines.

Faith and renunciation

A devout Anglo-Catholic, Rossetti twice declined marriage on religious grounds. Themes of renunciation — of love, of the world, of the self — run through her work, balanced by poems of pure delight like 'A Birthday' ('My heart is like a singing bird').

Ill health shadowed her later life; she died of cancer in 1894. Her poem 'In the Bleak Midwinter,' set to music by Gustav Holst, is now among the world's most beloved Christmas carols.

Style

Rossetti's style pairs simple, song-like surfaces with psychological and spiritual depth. Her mastery of ballad, hymn, and sonnet forms lets her move between the nursery-rhyme music of 'Goblin Market' and the austere beauty of her devotional lyrics.

Legacy

Rossetti is now ranked among the greatest Victorian poets, male or female. 'Goblin Market' is a cornerstone of feminist and queer readings of Victorian literature, and her carol lyrics reach audiences far beyond poetry readers every winter.

FAQ

What is Goblin Market about?

On the surface, two sisters tempted by goblin fruit; beneath it, readings range from Christian allegory of sin and redemption to feminist and queer interpretations of desire and sisterhood.

Was Christina Rossetti a Pre-Raphaelite?

She was closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood through her brothers and modeled for their paintings, though she kept a deliberate distance from the movement's social circle.

Did Christina Rossetti write In the Bleak Midwinter?

Yes — she wrote the poem in 1872; Gustav Holst's 1906 musical setting made it one of the most famous Christmas carols.

Why did Christina Rossetti never marry?

She ended two engagements for religious reasons — both suitors' faiths conflicted with her devout Anglo-Catholic convictions.