Selected Poems and Translations

by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Clive Wilmer (Translation)

This selection of the poetic work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1892) emphasizes the "pure poetry" of his lyrical approach to show how he paved the way for both the Modernists and the French Symbolists. Including a generous selection of his translations, it also provides both biographical and critical introductions.

Genres: Poetry, 19th Century, Victorian, Classics

152 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2002

About the author

British poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, brother of Christina Georgina Rossetti, founded the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, a society, in England in 1848 to advance the style and spirit of Italian painting before Raphael (Raffaelo Sanzio); his known portraits and his vividly detailed, mystic poems, include "The Blessed Damozel" (1850).

This illustrator and translator with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais later mainly inspired and influenced a second generation of artists and writers, most notably William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. His work also influenced the Symbolists, a group of chiefly French writers and artists, who of the late 1800s rejected realism and used symbols to evoke ideas and emotions. He served as a major precursor of Aestheticism, an artistic and intellectual movement or the doctrine, originating in Britain in the late 19th century, that from beauty, the basic principle, derives all other, especially moral, principles.

Reviews

[Rachel Baack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have not read this entire anthology, but the works included in it that I have read are listed and rated below:

“Autumn Idleness” (from “The House of Life: A Sonnet Sequence”): The speaker describes the frosty end of November in which he wanders, unsure what he should do. Rating: 1/5

“The Blessed Damozel”: This poem tells of two lovers who have been separated by the death. The woman, the “blessed damozel,” has died and left her lover alive without her. In this poem, the lovers are able to communicate, as the young woman is conflicted about fully entering into the afterlife without her love and has not yet done so. Rating: 2/5

"The Orchard Pit": The speaker describes a recurring dream in which he sees the sinister Belle Dame, who has "eyes of Death" watching some people in the orchard pit. Rating: 1/5

“Sestina. Of the Lady Pietra degli Scrovigni”: This poem is a personification of stones and comparison of them to a lady. It was originally written by Dante Alighieri and translated by Rossetti. Rating: 2/5

“Sudden Light”: A short poem that expresses the feeling of having the same experiences once before. Rating: 2/5

"The Woodspurge": The speaker recounts his experience of simple observation amidst grief. Rating: 3.5/5

[Cooper Renner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course I didn’t read most of this: earnest emotional barings of the poet’s soul almost always leave me cold. But there’s a musical strength to Blessed Damozel; Sister Helen updates the historic ballad form for a swell and oblique tale of woe; and The Woodspurge is restrained and lovely.