A Response to "Dream Land" - By Christina Rossetti.

        The poem is abundant with natural images which reflects her fantasy of life after death and emphasises the beauty of that existence. The images of “sunless rivers” and “Hill(s) and plain(s)” are physically large and there seems to be an idea that all of Gods creations, including huge, natural inanimate entities, are mourning for this person. This shows that Rossetti thought this person was of great importance and therefore must have been dear to her. Rossetti personifies rivers, as weeping. This emphasises the extent and physical loss of tears by people in the material world, who are mourning this person.

        Rosseti’s technique is of paramount importance to her poetry. Her each thought pattern can be tracked in this poem by the use of the rhyme scheme and the punctuation. Each single thought runs exactly four lines with the exception of the final stanza. The enjambment between the lines demonstrates the complexity of her each thought and the fourth line is end stopped, as it concludes that thought. Every end stopped line is short and rhymes with each end stopped line in that stanza. The short lines have a greater impact on the reader and they all refer to her current state of death.

        Rosseti’s strong Christian faith is portrayed through her poems. In this poem, Rosseti mentions the deceased person being “led by a single star”, which has connotations with the birth of Jesus and the three wise men who were led to him by a single star. This suggests that the deceased person is with Jesus, in heaven.

        The final stanza uses images of “mossy shore(s)” and repetition of “rest” to emphasise the tranquillity and peace of the person’s state. It is obvious Rosseti distinguishes between the physical reality of time and the afterlife, where “time shall cease”. Rosseti uses alliteration in “perfect peace” to emphasis the serene environment the person is in. The concluding line is extremely effective at putting the reader at ease and concludes the persons life with the end stop.