by Dinah Roe
Title. ‘unnamed lady’ (Italian).
Prefatory note. Beatrice muse of Dante Alighieri – see title note for DGR’s ‘On the “Vita Nuova” of Dante’; ‘altissimo poeta … cotanto amante’ the greatest poet and lover combined (Italian), i.e. Dante, see Inferno 4.80; Laura muse of Petrarch (1304–74), Italian scholar and poet; Albigenses members of a Provençal religious movement that preached a dualistic doctrine of material evil and spiritual good; Troubadours lyric poets of southern France from the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries; Great Poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–61).
I
Epigraph. ‘Since morn have said Adieu to darling friends’ (Purgatorio 8.3); ‘Love, with what force thou dost me now o’erthrow’ (Canzoniere 85.12).
4
Epigraph. ‘Great fire may after little spark succeed’ (Paradiso 1.34); ‘Take flight all thoughts and things that it contains, / And therein Love alone with you remains’ (Canzoniere 72.44–5).
8. weights and measures ‘Diverse weights, and diverse measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord’ (Proverbs 20:10).
7
Epigraph. ‘Here spring was always, and each plant’ (Purgatorio 28.143); ‘Love with me walks and talks, and with him I’ (Canzoniere 35.14).
5. Love builds the house on rock and not on sand ‘And everyone that hearest these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon sand’ (Matthew 7:26). See also Matthew 7:24 and Luke 6:48.
13–14. Though jealousy be cruel … love is strong as death ‘Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame’ (Song of Solomon 8:6). See also l. 1 of ‘An End’: ‘Love, strong as Death, is dead.’
8
Epigraph. ‘And breathe to God, “Nought recketh me, but thou” ’ (Purgatorio, 8.12); ‘I hope to miss not pardon – pity I mean’ (Canzoniere 1.8).
1. ‘I, if I perish, perish’ – Esther spake ‘ … and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish’ (Esther 4:6).
4. slake here, to quench or extinguish.
8. Harmless as doves and subtle as a snake ‘Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves’ (Matthew 10:16).
9. She trapped him with one mesh of silken hair see l. 14 of DGR’s ‘Body’s Beauty’ (Sonnet LXXVIII of The House of Life): ‘And round his heart one strangling golden hair’.
11
Epigraph. ‘Let people talk, and thou behind me go’ (Purgatorio 5.13); ‘Counting the chances that our life befall’ (Canzoniere 285.12).
5. prate chatter idly.
13. make it plain ‘And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it’ (Habbakuk 2:2).
14
Epigraph. ‘In His good pleasure we have each his peace’ (Paradiso 3.85); ‘Alone with these my thoughts, with altered hair’ (Canzoniere 30.32).
4. roses emblems of beauty.
Babylon the Great
The Face of the Deep (1892). First poetry volume Verses (1893). See ‘The World’.
Title. ‘And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH’ (Revelation 17:5).
3. mesh thee in her wanton hair see l. 14 of DGR’s ‘Body’s Beauty’ (Sonnet LXXVIII of The House of Life): ‘And round his heart one strangling golden hair’.
7. No wine is in her cup, but filth is there ‘And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication’ (Revelation 17:4).
13. Her scarlet vest and gold and gem and pearl see note for l. 7. See also Revelation 18:16.
14. set on fire ‘Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her’ (Revelation 18:8).
On Keats
Composed 18 January 1849 – noted as the ‘Eve of St Agnes’ in the original text. New Poems (Macmillan, 1896).
Title. See title note for DGR’s ‘John Keats’.
3. strong man grown weary of a race ‘Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race’ (Psalm 19:5).
4–5. Unto him … there thorns are not this refers to Christ’s parable of the sower. See Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8.
6. daisies emblem of innocence. Daisies feature frequently in Keats’s poems.
10–11. Here lies one whose … In water Keats’s epitaph. See also ll. 12–13 of DGR’s ‘John Keats’: ‘not writ / But rumour’d in water’.
12. basil alludes to Keats’s ‘Isabella or The Pot of Basil’ (1820).
Portraits
Composed 9 May 1853. New Poems (Macmillan, 1896). The poem’s first stanza portrays WMR, while WMR and DGR are the subject of the second stanza. See Biographical Notes.
In an Artist’s Studio
Composed 24 December 1856. New Poems (Macmillan, 1896). According to WMR, this poem was inspired by the paintings and drawing of Elizabeth Siddal during CGR’s visit to DGR’s studio. See DGR’s ‘The Portrait’ (1870) and ‘The Portrait’ (Sonnet X of The House of Life). See also Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s ‘Paros’ and Philip Bourke Marston’s ‘Love Past Utterance’.
The P.R.B.
Composed 10 November 1853. FLM 1. First poetry volume The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti, ed. WMR (Macmillan, 1904). See DGR’s ‘To the P.R.B.’ and ‘St Wagnes’ Eve’. See also WBS’s ‘To the Artists Called P.R.B.’ and John Tupper’s ‘A Quiet Evening’.
Title. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Everyone mentioned in the poem is a member. See also Biographical Notes.
2. Woolner in Australia sculptor Thomas Woolner moved briefly to Australia to search for gold.
3. Hunt … Cheops painter WHH was preparing for a painting trip to Egypt and Palestine.
4. shuns the vulgar optic DGR, stung by negative reviews of his work, was refusing to exhibit publicly.
5–6. William M. Rossetti ‘It means that I, as art-critic of The Spectator, abused in that paper my fellows in the Praeraphaelite Brotherhood, and that no one heeded my reviews. This joke was not historically true …’ (WMR’s notes to The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti, p. 491); Coptic the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.
7. Stephens Frederic George Stephens, an art critic who began as a painter.
9. Millais John Everett Millais.
11. A.R.A. JEM was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Art in 1853.
ARTHUR HUGHES
To a Child
Composed 1886. PP. Title given by Kineton Parkes.
In a Letter to William Bell Scott at Penkill
Composed 1887. PP. Title given by Kineton Parkes.
Title. William Bell Scott see Biographical Notes; Penkill a Scottish castle in Ayrshire dating from the sixteenth century. Unhappily married, WBS began an affair with its owner, Alice Boyd, which was tolerated by his wife. In 1864, he moved to Penkill, where he died in 1890. WBS painted murals for the castle, and WM designed some of its tapestries.
1. Scotus nickname for WBS.
14. Michael’s Mount St Michael’s Mount, tidal island off the south coast of Cornwall.
WILLIAM MORRIS
All poems first appeared in (and are taken from) WM’s first book of poems, The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems (Bell and Daldy, 1858), except where otherwise noted. Poems from this volume were composed between 1856 and 1858.
The Chapel in Lyoness
Oxford and Cambridge Magazine (1856).
Title. Lyoness Arthurian kingdom.
Subtitle. Sir Ozana le Cure Hardy minor knight in King Arthur’s court whose c
areer is undistinguished. As is often the case with WM, the poet compresses, modifies or alters episodes of the Malory narrative for dramatic effect. This poem conflates events of Ozana’s story with Galahad’s search for the Holy Grail. See Malory, Book 10, chapters 11 and 13; Book 18, chapters 10 and 11; and Book 19, Chapter 1. Sir Galahad son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, distinguished for his purity. Sir Bors de Ganys grail-seeker, along with Sir Galahad.
11. parclose a screen.
15. samite silk fabric interwoven with silver and gold threads.
41. ween thought, supposed.
51. drouth drought.
Riding Together
Oxford and Cambridge Magazine (1856).
12. helms helmets.
18. rood crucifix.
40. mazed confused, dazed.
The Defence of Guenevere
Title. The Arthurian tale of Queen Guenevere’s (also spelled ‘Guinevere’) trial and rescue by Lancelot which inspires this poem can be found in Book 20, chapters 1–8 of Malory. See also WM’s 1858 painting La Belle Iseult (also called Queen Guenevere), now in Tate Britain. For a similar experiment in terza rima, see Robert Browning’s ‘The Statue and the Bust’ (1855).
8. Gauwaine (also spelled ‘Gawain’) a knight of the Round Table.
13. wot knows.
34. choosing cloths pennants, banners; see also ll. 22 and 33.
149. certes assuredly, I assure you.
153. your mother Morgawse, sister of Arthur, mother of Mordred, wife of King Lot. She is murdered by her son Gaheris (Gauwaine’s brother) for becoming Sir Lamorak’s lover in Malory, Book 10, Chapter 24.
156. drouth drought.
157. Agravaine brother of Gauwaine and Gaheris. He accuses Guenevere of adultery with Launcelot and is killed by Launcelot. See Malory, Book 20, chapters 1–4.
168. Mellyagraunce a knight whose love for Guenevere is unrequited. After abducting the queen and accusing her of treason, he is killed by Launcelot. See Malory, Book 19, chapters 1–9.
169. la Fausse Garde Mellyagraunce’s castle.
173. blood upon my bed when climbing into Guenevere’s chamber through the window, Launcelot cuts his hand and bleeds on her sheets. Mellyagraunce later sees the blood and accuses her of adultery, and therefore treason, with a wounded knight. See Malory, Book 19, Chapter 6.
201. weet know.
211. caitiff coward.
220. shent disgraced, shamed.
222. blent blended.
The Gilliflower of Gold
Title. Gilliflower emblem of unfading beauty and bonds of affection.
2. helm helmet.
3. tourney tournament.
4. la belle jaune giroflée the pretty yellow gilliflower (French).
10. steel-coat chain mail.
25. ‘Honneur aux fils des preux!’ honour to the sons of the brave (French).
53. mazed confused, dazed.
The Judgment of God
31. thwart across.
46. recreant cowardly, disloyal.
67. sere withered.
Spell-Bound
See Tennyson’s ‘Mariana’ (1830) and John Keats’s ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ (1820). See also CGR’s ‘The Prince’s Progress’.
24. samite silk fabric interwoven with silver and gold threads.
39. burden refrain.
The Blue Closet
See William Allingham’s ‘The Maids of Elfen-Mere’.
Title. DGR painted a watercolour of this subject, with the same title, in 1857; now in Tate Britain.
Stanza title. Damozels see note for l. 1 of ‘The Blessed Damozel’.
5. ‘Laudate pueri’ praise, oh you servants (Latin).
The Tune of Seven Towers
Title. Inspired by DGR’s 1857 watercolour of the same name, now in Tate Britain.
26–7. coif … kirtle cap and gown.
Golden Wings
Jehane’s story echoes that of the Lady in Alfred Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shalott’ (1832). See also William Allingham’s ‘Lady Alice’.
47. Castel beau beautiful manor.
51. fille de fay daughter of Fay (French).
74. Undern mid-afternoon.
87–8. Arthur … Avallon Avalon, the mythical island to which King Arthur is brought after his final battle, and from which it is hoped he will return one day. See ‘Near Avalon’ and WBS’s ‘I Go to be Cured at Avilion’.
104. She murmur’d: ‘He will be here soon’ see the refrain of Tennyson’s ‘Mariana’ (1830):
She only said, ‘My life is dreary,
He cometh not,’ she said;
She said, ‘I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!’
174. pennon a long, triangular or swallow-tailed flag, a pennant.
235. draggled made dirty and wet.
The Haystack in the Floods
Inspired by events of the Hundred Years’ War as described in the Chronicles of Jean Froissart (c.1337–c.1405). While some details have historical merit, the incident and characters are WM’s creation.
9. kirtle a woman’s gown or outer petticoat.
34. That Judas, Godmar presumably a French enemy, but the link to Judas opens the possibility that he is an English traitor; possibly based on Froissart’s Godmar du Fay in Chronicles, Book 1 (1322–77).
36. pennon a long, triangular or swallow-tailed flag, a pennant.
39. Robert an English military leader.
42. coif close-fitting cap.
45. Poictiers the battle of Poitiers, 1356, won by the English during the Hundred Years’ War.
52. Chatelet the Grand Châtelet, in Paris, destroyed under Napoleon I in the early nineteenth century. Used from the Middle Ages for common-law jurisdiction, it contained a prison and a court, and was famous for confessions being extracted by torture.
69. Jehane French lover of Robert.
95. in such wise in this manner.
153. fitte section of a poem.
Two Red Roses Across the Moon
WM’s ‘lady’ echoes Alfred Tennyson’s ‘Mariana’ (1830) and ‘The Lady of Shalott’ (1832). In an 1872 volume entitled Fly Leaves, C. S. Calverly wrote a parody, using the refrain ‘Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese’. It concludes, ‘And as to the meaning, it’s what you please.’
3–4. And ever she sung … across the moon see note for l. 103 of ‘Golden Wings’.
5–10. There was a knight … past the hall compare with Lancelot’s arrival in ‘The Lady of Shalott’, ll. 74–105: ‘He rode between the barley-sheaves … ’
29. trow think, believe.
30. draggled made dirty and wet.
33. may hawthorn.
Near Avalon
Title. After King Arthur’s final battle, he is taken in a barge to the island of Avalon, accompanied by three queens, Morgan le Fay, the Queen of the Waste Lands and Nyneve, the chief Lady of the Lake. See also WBS’s ‘I Go to be Cured at Avilion’.
11. heaumes helmets.
Praise of My Lady
This poem’s lady, with her thick hair, long neck, pale skin and mournful, large eyes typifies the Pre-Raphaelite feminine ideal. George du Maurier parodies this ideal of beauty in his ‘A Legend of Camelot’, which appeared in Punch (March 1866). It also targets the medievalism of DGR’s poetry and WM’s other Arthurian poems.
4. Beata mea Domina my blessed lady (Latin).
67. pennon a long, triangular or swallow-tailed flag, a pennant.
FROM THE EARTHLY PARADISE
The following three extracts were first published in (and are taken from) The Earthly Paradise, vol. 1 (F. S. Ellis, 1868).
An Apology
The first section of The Earthly Pardise. Compare with DGR’s ‘A Sonnet is a moment’s monument’.
The Wanderers
This extract reproduces ll. 1–16 from the second section of The Earthly Paradise, ‘Prologue: The Wanderers’.
8. Levantine from the Levant, the eastern part of the Mediterranean.
13. Guienne a region of southern France.
14. Geoffrey Chaucer see note for l. 118 of WBS’s ‘Morning Sleep’.
15. lading cargo.
May
This extract reproduces ll. 1–21 from the section of The Earthly Paradise entitled ‘May’.
14. Eld former times, old times.
16. ousel bird.
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE
Unless otherwise noted, texts here are taken from the six-volume edition of The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne (Chatto & Windus, 1904), which is generally regarded as more reliable than the twenty-volume Bonchurch edition of Swinburne’s complete works (1925–7). Poems from Poems and Ballads and Poems and Ballads II are taken from vols. 1 and 2 respectively. Poems from Tristram of Lyonesse are taken from vol. 4, those from The Heptalogia from vol. 5 and from A Midsummer Holiday from vol. 6.
A Ballad of Life
Poems and Ballads (Moxon, 1866). Withdrawn in 1866 by its original publisher, Edward Moxon, the volume was republished by John Camden Hotten in the same year.
11. cithern a stringed instrument similar to a lute.
29. upon this wise in this manner.
76. Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519), Italian noblewoman who made three political marriages and is popularly regarded as a femme fatale.
Laus Veneris
Composed 1862. Poems and Ballads (Moxon, 1866). ACS prefaces the original poem with a French epigraph taken, he claims, from Maistre Antoine Gaget’s Livre des grandes merveilles d’amour (‘Book of the Wonders of Love’). The epigraph and its author are both ACS’s own inventions. The poem is inspired by the fifteenth-century German Tannhäuser legend, about a minstrel knight who lives in sin with Venus until he is overcome with guilt. He journeys to Rome to ask the Pope’s forgiveness, which the Pope denies him. The Pope decrees that, just as it is as impossible for flowers to bloom from his staff, it is impossible for Tannhäuser’s sin to be forgiven. After Tannhäuser leaves, flowers do indeed bloom from the Pope’s staff, but the knight never hears of this, and dies thinking he is damned.