Christina Rossetti's poems were seen as moral pieces, especially in comparison to the sensual and even sexual poetry of her brother Dante. However, Rossetti's poetry is demonstrative of the Victorian mentality in that it is not simply dutiful and preachy. Rossetti's poems, like the Victorian ones, are full of questions about life... what it means to be a human being and what it means to be a woman. Rossetti asked these questions in a way that allowed his poetry to be seen as simple and moral, if deceptively so. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayExcerpt Scan"Lizzie white and gold stood, '-'-'-'Like a lily in a flood,-- '-'- '-'Like a rock of blue-veined stone '-'- '-'Lashed stubbornly by the tides,--” '-'-'---(Goblin Market 408-411) In these four lines from Goblin Market Rossetti is using his characteristic way of appearing to say something very simple while implying a lot more. First, let's look at these four lines from a technical point of view. The first three lines contain seven syllables, four of them stressed with three unstressed syllables interspersed. The regularity of the rhythm, combined with the soft and lulling repetition of the 'sounds. The (in "Lizzie", "like", "lily" and "lashed"), creates a singing sound, similar to a lullaby, which is why the somewhat erotic cautionary tale Each of the first three lines begins and ends with an accented beat, so that the line break interrupts a potential spondaic foot. End points on lines framed by accented rhythms create an exaggerated pause between lines, so that they appear to stand independently of each other. This effect breaks the format of the similes. The pauses and interruptions cause the reader to separate the tenor from the vehicle, so that we are not sure what exactly "Like a lily" or "Like a rock" is... is it Lizzie? the way he stands? its color or its purity? The similarities also arouse interest because they contradict each other. A “flooding lily” will behave very differently from a “blue-veined / tide-lashed rock of stone.” The lily is likely to be broken or uprooted by a flood, while a stone can only wear away after years and years of being hit by the tides. In particular, the “obstreperous” tides are problematic, as the word “obstreperously” is inflected in three unstressed beats, breaking the rhythm of the lines. The tides, therefore, are noisy and uncontrolled, lacking strength against the rock, fading where the rhythm dictates that they remain strong. The role of color in these four lines recalls angelic and real images. Lizzie is "White and Gold", colors associated with purity and angels, and with "blue veins" indicating aristocratic or royal blood. Lizzie represents, in these lines, an idealized woman: she is angelic and noble. However, Rossetti seems to question what the idealized woman is: is she pure and delicate like a lily, or cold and persevering like stone? Or is the perfect woman somehow called to the impossible task of being all of these things at once? The even rhythm and the soothing, reassuring consonance of the repeated "l" are forces to lead the reader to consider the work as a simple tale of the triumph of morality. But the unusual last line, the strange use of the word “stubbornly” and, above all, the incongruous similes make the reader uncomfortable in this reading. If Rossetti simply wanted his readers to understand that all women should strive to be like Lizzie, why would he create impossible credentials for Lizzie? Rossetti uses images.