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Christina Rossetti Facts & Worksheets

Christina Rossetti was one of the most vital English female writers of the 19th century and best-known for her love of poetry, ballads, religious poetry and nursery rhymes.

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Christina Rossetti is well known for her mystical religious poetry and songs. Her poetry is distinguished by symbolism and intense emotion. Goblin Market and Other Poems, Rossetti’s best-known composition, was released in 1862. As a result of the compilation, Rossetti became an important figure in Victorian poetry.

See the fact file below for more information on Christina Rossetti, or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Christina Rossetti worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Life and Interests

  • Gabriele Rossetti and Frances Polidori gave birth to Christina Georgina Rossetti on December 5, 1830, in Charlotte Street, London, England. She was the youngest of two brothers and a sister who had four siblings in total. Gabriele, her father, was a well-known poet and author. He was an Italian political exile who had moved to London in 1824. Frances, her mother, was an artist and a scholar as well.
  • For most of her early years, she was home-schooled. Because of her parents’ intense religiosity, Christina spent most of her early schooling. Christina was an enthusiastic youngster who told her mother her first narrative before learning to write. She also enjoyed reading classic novels, fairy tales, and religious texts. Italy greatly influenced her early years. Their home was filled with classic Italian artwork, and they regularly hosted writers, artists, and academics from Italy.
  • She began professionally composing poems in 1842 when she was 12 years old. Her favorite authors strongly inspired the majority of her early poetry. It wasn’t until her late adolescence that she created her own style, which was a blend of Bible quotations, folk stories, and biographies of great Christian saints. Around 1847, she began experimenting with genres, writing sonnets, ballads, and hymns.
  • For a literary journal, she penned the poems “Death’s Chill Between” and “Heart’s Chill Between,” which were her first poems to be published around the time she was 18 years old. More of her poetry was published under the alias “Ellen Alleyne” in the literary journal “The Germ.”
  • The family had tremendous financial hardships in the 1840s as a result of her father’s declining mental and physical condition. Both tuberculosis and sadness plagued him. Christina experienced severe depression and a nervous breakdown when she was 14 years old. Her mother encouraged her to join the Anglo-Catholic movement when she gave up her studies.
  • Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina’s brother, went on to become a painter; Christina sat as a model for numerous of his paintings.

Rosetti’s Literary Career

  • She produced her most well-known collection of poetry to date, “Goblin Market and Other Poems,” in 1862. It was an enormous critical triumph when it came out. She was just 32 when the book was published, and the reviewers lauded her as the best female poet of her period. It contains some internationally acclaimed poems, including “Goblin Market,” “Maude Clare,” “The Convent Threshold,” and “Up-Hill.”
  • Her well-known poem, “In the Round Tower at Jhansi, June 8, 1857,” which discussed the Jhokan Bag Massacre at Jhansi during India’s first war for independence, was also included in the anthology.
  • Her art was seen as being rather abstract, metaphorical, and allegorical. The Prince’s Progress and Other Poems and A Pageant and Other Poems are only a couple of the poetry volumes she released throughout the following several decades.
  • She started working as a volunteer at Highgate’s St. Mary Magdalene House of Charity in 1859, and it served as a facility for recovering ex-prostitutes. It is also known that her experiences working there served as some of the inspiration for the poem “Goblin Market.” 
  • She endured a great deal of pain throughout her life, most of it psychological. She addressed the topic of female sorrow in several of her poems, yet most of them expressed conflicting emotions. Many academics contend that much of her poetry also has “feminist” connotations.
  • She also had liberal leftist views on principle. She harshly denounced animal cruelty, the exploitation of girls, and enslavement in America. She mostly produced religious poetry and poetry for children in the last years of her life. She released “Sing-Song” and “The Face of the Deep,” two of the most well-known works from her latter career, in the 1890s.
  • She was a pretty well-liked person throughout her lifetime, but her popularity did not last into the early 20th century, especially following her passing. She recently regained fame as it was discovered that several of her works touched on Freudian themes like sexual repression.

Personal Life, Death & Legacy

  • A Catholic Pre-Raphaelite named James Collinson proposed to Christina in 1848. She first agreed to see him but afterwards declined because of their different religious beliefs. She rejected a second marriage proposal on the same grounds.
  • Her sonnet sequence Monna Innominata, which was published in 1881’s A Pageant and Other Poems, is one of the locations where she praises her rejection of love for religious purity. These experiences permeated her writing. Despite what appeared to be a deliberate rejection of marriage, she continued to depict the theme of lost love in her poetry.
  • Christina’s life was still marked by sadness. Her issues, however, were unable to undermine her lyrical abilities. She continued to create masterpieces up to her 1872 Graves disease diagnosis, her 1893 heart arrest, and her 1893 breast cancer diagnosis. She persevered despite all of these catastrophes. The 29th of December 1894 saw her pass away in Bloomsbury. In England’s High Gate Cemetery, Christina was laid to rest.
  • Many pieces with personal memories expressing respect for her saintliness and evaluating her poetry and prose surfaced after her passing. William went out of his way to record and edit his sister’s life as the only surviving sibling. Although Christina Rossetti has frequently been referred to as the finest Victorian lady poet, both sexes now agree that her work is among the most stunning and original of the time.
  • Perhaps her most well-known composition is the lengthy poem “Goblin Market.” Her contemporaries respected her, especially Alfred Lord Tennyson, and some saw her as Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s obvious successor.
  • Christina rose to prominence as a leading poet of the Victorian era. Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), The Prince’s Progress (1866), A Pageant (1881), and The Face of the Deep (1882) are only a few of the poetry collections she wrote. Rossetti’s poetry has never been out of fashion.
  • Christina Rossetti was a genuine Christian, and her religious beliefs influenced all of her writing, regardless of the subject. God is constantly there and always there in Rossetti’s poetry, sometimes in the foreground and sometimes in the background. 
  • Rossetti’s works’ overall tone and atmosphere are somber because she indulges in moral precepts and religious convictions. Her compositions often have a somber tone because of her predominant gothic writing style.

Christina Rossetti Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Christina Rossetti across 21 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Christina Rossetti worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Christina Rossetti, who was one of the most vital English female writers of the 19th century and best-known for her love of poetry, ballads, religious poetry and nursery rhymes. Among her famous works are the collections of Goblin Market and the Prince’s Progress.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

  • Christina Rossetti Facts
  • The Poetess
  • Famous Victorian Poets
  • Titles and Symbols
  • Behind Pseudonyms
  • Echo
  • The Thread of Life
  • Love and Religion
  • Macabre Painting
  • Victorian Feminism
  • Rossetti Web

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Christina Rossetti’s most famous poem?

Perhaps her most well-known composition is the lengthy poem “Goblin Market.” Her contemporaries respected her, especially Alfred Lord Tennyson, and some saw her as Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s obvious successor.

What is Christina Rossetti famous for?

Christina rose to prominence as a leading poet of the Victorian era. Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), The Prince’s Progress (1866), A Pageant (1881), and The Face of the Deep (1882) are only a few of the poetry collections she wrote. Rossetti’s poetry has never been out of fashion.

Why did Rossetti never marry?

A Catholic Pre-Raphaelite named James Collinson proposed to Christina in 1848. She first agreed to see him but afterward declined because of their different religious beliefs. She rejected a second marriage proposal on the same grounds.

What did Christina Rossetti believe in?

Christina Rossetti was a genuine Christian, and her religious beliefs influenced all of her writing, regardless of the subject. God is constantly there and always there in Rossetti’s poetry, sometimes in the foreground and sometimes in the background. 

What was Christina Rossetti’s writing style?

Rossetti’s works’ overall tone and atmosphere are somber because she indulges in moral precepts and religious convictions. Her compositions often have a somber tone because of her predominant gothic writing style.

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