Symbols by Christina Georgina Rossetti
A speaker watches a rosebud bloom and fall in one day, then a nest whose birds leave before the eggs hatch. In anger, the speaker breaks the tended bough and crushes the eggs; the dead branch and eggs question this vengeance by asking whether God should likewise punish the speaker for failing to bear fruit.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Allegorical Poetry, Religious Poetry · 242 words
First lines
I watched a rosebud very long / Brought on by dew and sun and shower, / Waiting to see the perfect flower: / Then, when I thought it should be strong, / It opened at the matin hour / And fell at even-song.
I watched a nest from day to day, / A green nest full of pleasant shade, / Wherein three speckled eggs were laid: / But when they should have hatched in May, / The two old birds had grown afraid / Or tired, and flew away.
Then in my wrath I broke the bough / That I had tended so with care, / Hoping its scent should fill the air; / I crushed the eggs, not heeding how / Their ancient promise had been fair: / I would have vengeance now.
Genres
- Allegorical Poetry — The dead branch and crushed eggs speak to challenge the speaker's vengeance, asking whether God should likewise punish the speaker for failing to bear fruit.
- Religious Poetry — The closing stanza questions the justice of the speaker's anger by asking whether God should also punish the speaker for failing to bear fruit.
Tags
roses · abandoned nests · anger · vengeance · divine judgment · religious allegory
What this Textopian page supports
Symbols 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: Allegorical Poetry, Religious Poetry
- Length: 242 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Symbols by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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