Original scientific paper
Pre-Raphaelite Visuality in Christina Rossetti’s “When I am Dead, My Dearest”
Karlo Stanko
Abstract
This paper provides a lyrical and allegorical interpretation of the visuality in Christina Rossetti’s poem “When I am Dead, My Dearest” in the context of her exposure to, and involvement with, the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. The paper starts by contextualizing Rossetti’s poem in regard to her involvement with the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, whose visuality and worldview had a significant impact on Rossetti’s life and art, as well as tackling her style and character, all of which makes its way into the structure and themes of the poem. The analysis is divided into two halves, in compliance with the subject matter of the poem. The first half of the analysis tackles the first 8 stanzas which establish a pre-Raphaelite visuality in terms of details, nature and metonymy. The second half of the paper analyses the final 8 stanzas that narrow into the introspective world of the lyrical subject, establishing it as a panoptic subject and completing the lyrical image of a pre-Raphaelite painting. The paper finds that the poem is not only successful in translating the visual elements of a pre-Raphaelite painting into a lyrical work but also in translating the brotherhood’s approach and themes creating a deeply personal work of poetry in the process.
Keywords
Pre-Raphaelitism; Visuality; Panopticism; Poetry; Christina Rossetti
Hrčak ID:
340936
URI
Publication date:
11.12.2025.
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