★★★☆☆ All about image

The Goblin Market and Other Poems

Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti does one thing very well -- she paints vivid, colorful word pictures. Digireads republications often have covers that don't accurately portray what's inside, but I like this one. It shows a brightly colored picture of a young woman confronted by a company of dwarves and goblins. This is very much like the picture that came to my mind when I read the title poem, "The Goblin Market". (It is, I think, the most famous of Rossetti's poems, but to be honest, what I mean by that is that it's the only one I had read before reading this collection.) Here are some lines from that poem that might have inspired the cover picture

'Come buy, come buy,' was still their cry.
Laura stared but did not stir,
Longed but had no money:
The whisk-tailed merchant bade her taste
In tones as smooth as honey,
The cat-faced purr'd,
The rat-faced spoke a word
Of welcome, and the snail-paced even was heard;
One parrot-voiced and jolly
Cried 'Pretty Goblin' still for 'Pretty Polly;'—
One whistled like a bird.

Aside from this gift of imagery, I must admit that I don't really like Rossetti's poetry very much. Her language is often artificially poetic, a thing I've never liked. Also, many of her poems are descriptions of religious ecstasy of one sort or another, and these leave me cold.

Poetry appreciation is a very personal thing. If you love Rossetti's, then I congratulate you. For me, it was a few gems scattered among a lot of dross.

The Goblin Market and Other Poems on Amazon

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