Rossetti's Presentation of Nature in her Poetry

There are many ways in which Rossetti presents Nature in her poetry. Her constant awe and love for nature is apparent throughout many of her poems, as she often uses Nature's beauty to illustrate her love of God and her devote Catholiscim.

 

Firstly, Rossetti uses nature as a metaphor for her strong belief in God's power to create and sustain.

She describes water with great grandeur, labelling the “fourfold river” to represent its wide, encompassing power. The onomatopoeia used here replicates the flowing, continual sound of the river, creating vibrant and vivd imagery with which to contrast the dull surroundings of manmade religious structures. She uses this imagery of water- the main requirement for all life on Earth- to depict God's ability to give and sustain not only mankind- but also nature's many beauties. Water also has typically religious connotations; it's requirement in baptisms and throughout stories in the Bible show how Rossetti is able to continually link God and Nature, finding God in the beauty and constancy of water and a river's flow as opposed to the synthetic human religious settings.

           

Her poem, “Paradise: In a Dream” shows Rossetti's awe at nature, as she depicts the “perfect violet”, “glassy pools” and flowers “more fair than waking eyes”. She uses this Natural Imagery to portray God's power in Nature and show her rejection of more demur man made religious structures e.g. churches, typical places of worship.

            For example, rather than using the typically gruesome image of Christ on a cross, she uses the metaphor of the “Tree of life”- reflecting Christ and God in the beauty of nature. This metaphor emphasises the importance of the Tree of Life to Rossetti, with its mentioning at the centre of the poem showing the importance of structure within the poem,  representing how God is at the heart of everything, even at the heart of the poem. Rossetti goes on to describe how its “eternal sap sustains the roots”, referring to the roots of life, the world and humanity as a whole. The fact she describes the tree as “abundant with twelvefold fruits” that are “sweeter than honey to taste” shows how Rossetti felt that God not only sustains life, but ensures its basic, sensual enjoyment, as the "sweeter than honey" details the enjoyment gained from life, as sweetness is a psoitive and indulgent sensation. The point of life is not only to survive, but also to be happy and thrive, and through this metaphor Rossetti shows that God gives more than it is necessary to give, showing his generosity and love.

 

Rossetti clearly shows that her passion for “(my) God” is equal to her passion for enjoying Nature at its most basic, human level. Whereas most man made religious customs might frown upon such sensuality shown through nature, Rossetti is perhaps controversial in her use of the description of Nature in Maude Claire, in which she uses the description of “wading for lilies in the beck” to recall memories of a romance. The description of the “lilies budding now” could reflect the poetic voice's want to go back to that time when she enjoyed not only the beauty in nature, but also the beauty of being happily in love. In this way Rossetti could portray her belief that to show love in all forms is not a sin, the comparison of nature and love side by side reflecting her belief in natural beauty, through nature and through people.