Christina Rossetti's 'A Christmas Carol' is a devotional poem that has been set to music many times, most notably by Gustav Holst in 1906, and remains a choral favorite today. It centers on the birth of Jesus Christ, told from the point of view of a speaker who, although excluded from this biblical scene by both time and status, feels deeply connected to it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay An indication of the tone and content of the poem, as well as Rossetti's aspirations for it, can be found in the title "A Christmas Carol"'. This is because the title essentially invites readers to see the poem as a potential song, as Christmas carols are popular hymns usually sung as a way to have fun during the holiday season. However, this poem challenges the stereotype of a joyful song by providing a particularly dark and gloomy setting, which can be found in the opening line itself. The reference to winter as "bleak" is repeated throughout the first and second stanzas, and this creates an atmosphere of desperation typical of Rossetti's poetry. This experience of desolation is then intensified through Rossetti's use of multiple layers of imagery. For example, tactile imagery is present in the phrase "Icy wind", while auditory imagery can be found through Rossetti's use of assonance ("groan"/"stone"; "snow"/"do") , which allows the player to hear the moan of the wind. Rossetti supports the semantic field of cold by repeating the phrase "snow on snow", which could be a representation of the gradual accumulation of snowflakes during the winter, thus creating an image of how the speaker is enveloped by the cold. Furthermore, the natural elements are depicted as cold and still ("The Earth was hard as iron, / The water as a stone;"), which paints the environment as hostile and unforgiving. By setting the poem in an unforgiving environment, Rossetti effectively illustrates how Christians perceive the state of the world before the birth of Jesus Christ, as they believe that without Him there would be no hope of salvation or eternal life. The phrase "Our God" not only serves to draw the reader's attention to the main theme of the poem, but also universalizes the condition of Christian suffering. Rossetti has a tendency to create a sense of grandeur in his devotional poems, and this is seen in "A Christmas Carol" through the large images of God that can be found ("Heaven cannot hold him / Nor earth hold him"). This is further supported by the use of hyperbole ("Heaven and earth will flee"), and the antithesis in the line clearly indicates that the birth of Jesus Christ is a large-scale event. Yet God, despite his infinite power, is presented in the poem as a humble being. For example, it is repeatedly stated that the minimum of material needs is sufficient for him, with phrases such as “a stable was enough for him” and “it is enough for him”. The mention of the location of the stable reminds the reader of the harsh conditions into which Jesus Christ was born, and the allusion to the nativity scene continues throughout the poem. Rossetti constantly mixes God's humility with His greatness, which creates an augmenting effect of both of these contrasting aspects. For example, "angels" are mentioned in close proximity to the "ox, ass, and camel" in the third stanza, thus presenting the idea of ​​how God is willing to stoop for the sake of humanity. It is interesting to note that the angels Cherubim and Seraphim are present in many of Rossetti's devotional poems, such as The Threshold of the Convent. In this poem, they are depicted as worshiping God "night and day", and theinternal rhyme depicts an image of God surrounded by a heavenly choir, which serves to again cement the idea of ​​God as an omnipotent being. Naturally, a reader would expect the character to emulate God while also practicing humility, yet the final stanza paints a rather ambiguous picture regarding the person's true attitude. The character can be read as a humble person, as he recognizes that he is poor and of lower status than the "shepherd" and the "Sage" (a reference to the Magi). Christian humility is a notable quality that is present in the person of most of Rossetti's devotional poems, such as in The Lowest Place. Thus, the final stanza can be interpreted as a heartfelt tribute, and this is highlighted by the use of a hyphen ("I would do my part, -"), as the hyphen could represent the person's intense emotions. This view is supported by critic Dinah Roe, who notes that Rossetti often uses hyphens as a musical device as they visually express an emotion, a reaching out, or "something almost being said". Alternatively, it can be said that through the final stanza, the character is actually shifting the spotlight of the poem onto himself. This is because every line of the last stanza (with the exception of the last line) contains the pronoun "I", so the entire stanza can be said to have been infused with the person's sense of self. Furthermore, the cumulative effect with which the gifts are presented evokes anticipation in the nature of the final gift, with readers likely to consider it the greatest of all. It is therefore significant that the final gift presented is the Person's gift, as it indicates that the Person perceives their gift as the most superior. This is supported by the use of a trochaic foot followed by a cataleptic foot for the final line of the poem, as it draws the reader's attention to the gift of the Persona. Therefore, it can be argued that the persona is spiritually selfish, which is a quality implicit in the persona of many of Rossetti's devotional poems. Another characteristic of Rossetti's poems is that of the juxtaposition between the roles of men and women. “A Christmas Carol” is imbued with a sense of male authority, which is reinforced particularly through the use of male pronouns when referring to God (“When He Comes to Rule”). Furthermore, the shepherds who offer lambs in the Bible, as well as the three Wise Men (who offer wisdom and riches) are male, which shows how power resides in the male sex in both the spiritual and earthly realms. This is an idea that can be achieved through the rhyme scheme ; "there" /'air'; 'bliss'/'kiss'; In contrast, the poem can be said to highlight the abilities of women, detailing the gifts that women have have to offer through the presentation of the Virgin Mary Despite being a poor and virgin woman ("maiden's bliss"), Mary accomplished the miraculous task of giving birth to the Savior of man without any male assistance, providing nourishment and warmth to the child (and by extension thawing the former frozen world), with the exclusively feminine gifts of milk and the mother's kiss ("Adored the Beloved / With a kiss"). his mother,” and the reference to “a breast full of milk” evokes the image of a nursing child in a mother's heart. This idea of ​​the exclusivity of female abilities is supported by the previous lines "Angels and archangels / They may have gathered there", as the word "May" shows that even the worship of divine entities is inferior compared to a mother's love. According to Dinah Roe, the.