The Poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti : Modes of Self-Expression

This 1981 book aims to provide the basis for a better understanding and a juster appreciation of his poetic achievement. The main emphasis of the book is on Rossetti's distinctive imaginative world and the body of imagery which creates it; throughout there are close analyses of the major poems.

In its response to a distinct revival of interest in Pre-Raphaelite painting, much biographical attention has been focused on members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and on Dante Gabriel Rossetti in particular. Rossetti's poetry, however, received comparatively scant attention, and that often far from sympathetic. This 1981 book aims to provide the basis for a better understanding and a juster appreciation of his poetic achievement. The main emphasis of the book is on Rossetti's distinctive imaginative world and the body of imagery which creates it; throughout there are close analyses of the major poems. Dante is seen as a vital influence on the form and significance which Rossetti's experience took in his own mind, and a final chapter includes comparative readings of William Morris and Christina Roessetti in a discussion of the nature of the self-expressive impulses that are so dominant an element in the creation of Pre-Raphaelite poetry.