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A review by elderlingfool
Goblin Market and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti
3.5
It is always hard to rate a collection because the works seldom have equal quality. I found most of the poems in this book either okay or simply didn't like them. I usually love works filled with emotion, but this was too sentimental even for me. Too dramatic for the most part. However, the longest and most well known poem "Goblin Market" is one of my all time favourites and no doubt the best one here. I also really liked "Cousin Kate" and "No, Thank You, John". In a way, all of the poems are about endings (death, a lost love, etc).
My edition only has 68 pages and the poems are really short. That means this was a really quick read so that is a point in it's favour. I really like the writing style except when it goes too overboard with the sentimentality. It doesn't look sincere and ends up looking like the author was trying too hard to make the reader feel something instead.
"Goblin Market" is a fairy tale written in verse and it's both dark and beautiful. There are some different interpretations of it and they are all quite interesting. I do believe this poem has an eroticism about it, but the story is still good even if taken at face value.
"Cousin Kate" has the typical plot of a woman that was used by the king and sent away in shame while he married another and it even has the typical ending about the heir. Even though it's not original, I still really enjoyed it.
"If he had fooled not me but you,
If you stood where I stand,
He'd not have won me with his love
Nor bought me with his land;
I would have spit into his face
And not have taken his hand."
"No, Thank You, John" is a good poem for guys that don't take no for an answer. It starts with "I never said I loved you, John" and goes on telling this John to go do something else with his life instead of insisting on a romantic relationship.
"Let us strike hands as hearty friends;
No more, no less; and friendship's good:
Only don't keep in view ulterior ends"
My favourite poems tend to be the ones that have some kind of story instead of just an expression of feelings. There were very few of those in here, but I enjoyed them the most.
My edition only has 68 pages and the poems are really short. That means this was a really quick read so that is a point in it's favour. I really like the writing style except when it goes too overboard with the sentimentality. It doesn't look sincere and ends up looking like the author was trying too hard to make the reader feel something instead.
"Goblin Market" is a fairy tale written in verse and it's both dark and beautiful. There are some different interpretations of it and they are all quite interesting. I do believe this poem has an eroticism about it, but the story is still good even if taken at face value.
"Cousin Kate" has the typical plot of a woman that was used by the king and sent away in shame while he married another and it even has the typical ending about the heir. Even though it's not original, I still really enjoyed it.
"If he had fooled not me but you,
If you stood where I stand,
He'd not have won me with his love
Nor bought me with his land;
I would have spit into his face
And not have taken his hand."
"No, Thank You, John" is a good poem for guys that don't take no for an answer. It starts with "I never said I loved you, John" and goes on telling this John to go do something else with his life instead of insisting on a romantic relationship.
"Let us strike hands as hearty friends;
No more, no less; and friendship's good:
Only don't keep in view ulterior ends"
My favourite poems tend to be the ones that have some kind of story instead of just an expression of feelings. There were very few of those in here, but I enjoyed them the most.