17 Comments
Amrita Ahluwalia
2/1/2014 07:29:32 pm
In stanza 3, Rossetti includes the anaphora of ‘close’ to highlight how Skene and his wife come together as if they are indistinguishable. Rossetti highlights the love between the couple as they are no longer presented as husband and wife but rather as one being. The anaphora could be Rossetti’s attempt to elongate the events taking place which in turn could mirror the couple’s attempt to elongate their current situation and to embrace the moment they are sharing, as they get closer and closer, before entering their deaths. Rossetti could be highlighting the devastating nature of war and how lives are meaninglessly destroyed and love is conquered by the uncaring and ruthless acts embedded within war as Skene is forced to the end his wife’s and his own life.
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Sadiya Momaya
2/3/2014 04:36:26 am
Rossetti does not include much description about the surrounding and makes the couple her focal point of the poem, by doing this Rossetti is trying to show the existence of an ideal relationship, which is portrayed through the loving bond between the man and his wife. Rossetti uses vivid imagery to show how the man ‘close his arm about her now, close her cheek to his, close the pistol to her brow’ in order to show the lives of the couple coming to an end. The love they have for each other is so unconditional that they prefer to kill each other rather than being killed by their enemies. The constant repetition of ‘close’ creates a disturbing alliteration of the ‘c’ which reflects the desperation of the couple wanting to live more. This poem is focused during the time of Sepoy Mutiny, where many people were killed in Jhansi (city in North India), because Indian soldiers were against the British rule. By using this idea of history Rossetti reveals the horrors of war which leads to death. Moreover, I also believe the poem has an idea of acceptance of death because Rossetti’s life itself was afflicted by death; she lost her father when she was around twenty four and most importantly Rossetti being religious enhances her thinking about accepting death as it is part of Christian message, especially because Christians have faith in in afterlife.
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sana
2/5/2014 03:35:24 am
Additionally with sadiyas interpretation i think that the lack of description of the surroundings adds prominence to the couples unwavering love as Rossetti chooses to centre on their love shown by their proximity seeking. Religious factors, one of the reasons that was said to have caused the Indian rebellion epitomises their devotion to each other as their willingness to preserve their untainted love and die by their own means mirrors those of the civilians of Jhansi that were prepared to fight for their faith in order to prolong its survival. Skene and his wife had come to terms with their pending deaths, as a result were pushed into an escapable decision: to kill themselves or be killed unmercifully. Their supreme love for each other supersedes their pain of separation, having decided to die in a way that will at least salvage their love, the last image they see being one of love, not agony having witnessed each other’s deaths at the hands of the ‘swarming howling wretches’ knowing their ‘was not a hope in the world’ they could do to stop it .Through this Rossetti could be condemning the absolute annihilation of love and and faith that war triggers, religion in particular being the inspiration of many of Rosetti works.
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Nasra
2/6/2014 04:58:20 am
In the round tower at Jhansi, June 8, 1857 Christina Rossetti tells the story in a very different way to her other poems. Poems such as 'Maude Clare' are very focused on the relationships between the characters and how that has created conflict. On the other hand in this poem the only characters mentioned are Skene and his wife. This focuses the poem down to the purity or simplicity of love in desperation. When being put in such a life threatening and frightening situation most issues in a person's life is forgotten and you concentrate on the most important; emphasising the love between the two. Rossetti also uses a lot of repetition such as "close" which not only shows their physical closeness as they prepare to die, but also how close they are emotionally and the support which they provide for each other. They are alone in a tower with "wretches below" that intend to kill them. It's "a thousand to one" and the only ones they can rely on are each other.
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Jaspreet
2/6/2014 06:14:02 am
As the poem is quite short in length, it seamlessly has a fast pace, which is done deliberately by Rossetti in an attempt to underline the negative connotations of war, by implying how the lives of the couple are cut short so quickly through the emphasis on the repetition of 'gained', implying how they are chased to death as there isn't much time left to escape. Skene and his wife realise that by remaining alive in each other arms, they will be viciously slaughtered at the hands of the 'wretches below' so they undertake a more drastic approach by killing themselves while they remain ever so 'close' to symbolize even after death their love will remain. Thus implying that although they fell weak to death, their love will remain strong for eternity, implying how they remain hopeful for the afterlife in which they ensure each other they will meet again. Furthermore, Rossetti's attempt to depict war as horrendous, is further enhanced in the mention of the people who intend to kill them as 'howling wretches', the use of the adjective 'howling' establishes how Rossetti sees the culprits of war as a pack of wolves out for nothing but blood. This refers to the British colonists who felt no lack of remorse in the massacre of many they were responsible for in their attempt to end a Indian uprising against their rule. Through this poem Rossetti appeals to her religious inspiration to condemn war, as all it brings is pain and suffering, destroying the existence of love which struggles.
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Anisha
2/6/2014 08:13:37 pm
Adding to Sana's point, it does seem Rossetti has perhaps used the lack of detail to decrease the pace of the poem making it more emotional because as readers we know there is hardly any time left for them, so by decreasing the pace it allows the reader to envision the heart break and feel the pain alongside them. This is further illustrated by the dashes used. The dashes allow the narrator to express her emotions as we know she is in pain but yet it slows the pace down allowing us to witness the hard decisions Skene.
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Iman H
2/6/2014 08:25:08 pm
The fast pace of the poem could show the little time they have together and how everything will come to an end so quickly at that moment in time.Also,it could represent that there will never be enough time for them to say goodbye to one another.The use of the word 'close' shows how emotionally and physically attached they are to one another and the fear to break that bond apart.There is also a constant repitition of the word 'young' which shows how the couple,as well as those in similar situations,have had to suffer and not been given a life to genuinely live but yet are in constant fear.
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A Ahluwalia
2/11/2014 12:59:35 am
Is it fast paced? Does Rossetti not decrease the pace of the poem through the use of repetition?
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Emma
10/29/2014 12:47:50 am
depends how fast you're reading it
Pingu
2/7/2015 08:53:21 pm
I actually believe that through repetition and the use of unnecessary punctuation Rossetti slows the poem down, as if she cannot face the couples' fate and wants to prolong it for as long as she can.
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V
1/25/2016 04:12:38 am
It is both fast-paced and slow-paced. In the stanzas where there is speech, i.e - 2nd, 3rd, 4th stanzas, it is read much slower. The uses of dashes add to the decrease in speed along with the speech itself where the language is soft and gentle which prolongs the way it is read. In the other stanzas, the pace increases because in oppose to their feelings, which are calm, their actions are much quicker and rushed due to the terror that is quickly approaching.
muns
2/6/2014 10:02:11 pm
in the last stanza, we see that 'kiss' has been written several times in the stanza. The man is kissing his wife to distract her from what he has to do. He's trying to make this death as easy as possible, because he loves her so much, Although these stanza's are not descriptive about the surroudnings and don't give a lot of imagery, the reader can still envision this heartbroken couple saying goodbye to one another.
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Emma
10/29/2014 12:44:55 am
Or maybe Rossetti was just bored and this was all she could think of to write.
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Nicole and Miracle bruv
11/13/2014 11:58:33 pm
I believe this poem is gay which suckass
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Emily
11/18/2014 06:29:06 pm
could you perhaps answer with a good answer rather than trying to be funny and not helping anyone rather than wasting my time?
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amina
4/22/2016 02:33:01 pm
WHY IS NOONE MENTIONING THE FACT THAT ROSSETTI IS DESCRIBING INDIAN REBELS BASICALLY AS ANIMALS AND IS SEEING THEM AS INFERIOR but because its romantic it doesnt matter
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10/13/2016 12:58:43 am
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