A Royal Princess by Christina Georgina Rossetti
An isolated princess surrounded by luxury recognizes the humanity of the people her father subjects to forced labor. She overhears attendants mocking the hungry and hears her father order soldiers against rebels while a crowd threatens the palace with fire. She resolves to take her gold and jewels to the people to buy them bread, accepting that she may perish.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Dramatic Monologue, Narrative Poetry, Social Criticism · 1,664 words
First lines
I, a princess, king-descended, decked with jewels, gilded, drest, / Would rather be a peasant with her baby at her breast, / For all I shine so like the sun, and am purple like the west.
Two and two my guards behind, two and two before, / Two and two on either hand, they guard me evermore; / Me, poor dove, that must not coo, -- eagle, that must not soar.
Genres
- Dramatic Monologue — The princess speaks in the first person, recounting her confinement, overheard conversations, and decision to confront the hungry crowd.
- Narrative Poetry — Rhyming three-line stanzas follow the princess from solitary luxury through reports of hunger and violent confrontation to her resolve to offer aid.
- Social Criticism — The king counts people alongside livestock, workers suffer overseers' whips, and attendants joke about starvation while the royal household retains its luxuries.
Tags
royal isolation · hunger · forced labor · class inequality · popular revolt · charity
What this Textopian page supports
A Royal Princess is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Dramatic Monologue, Narrative Poetry, Social Criticism
- Length: 1,664 words
- Structure: 1 section, 36 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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