A Fisher-Wife by Christina Georgina Rossetti
A fisher-wife feels weighed down with fear for her husband, who is afloat at sea on frail wooden planks. She begs the winds to hold back and wishes she could shelter him in her arms.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Monologue · 171 words
First lines
The soonest mended, nothing said; / And help may rise from east or west; / But my two hands are lumps of lead, / My heart sits leaden in my breast.
O north wind swoop not from the north, / O south wind linger in the south, / Oh come not raving raging forth, / To bring my heart into my mouth;
For I've a husband out at sea, / Afloat on feeble planks of wood; / He does not know what fear may be; / I would have told him if I could.
I would have locked him in my arms, / I would have hid him in my heart; / For oh! the waves are fraught with harms, / And he and I so far apart.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Four rhymed stanzas express the speaker's fear for her absent husband and her wish to protect him.
- Dramatic Monologue — A fisher-wife speaks in the first person, addressing the winds and describing her husband's situation at sea.
Tags
fear · marital separation · fishing · sea · winds
What this Textopian page supports
A Fisher-Wife is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Monologue
- Length: 171 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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