Rossetti, Christina (1830-1894)

English lyric poet, born in London. Although some of her earliest verse was published in the Germ (1850), a Pre-Raphaelite journal, and she sat as a model for a number of paintings by her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelites, she was not a member of the movement. Much of Rossetti's work was religious in nature; the themes of renunciation of earthly love and concern with death shadow such favorite poems as "When I Am Dead, My Dearest" and "Up-Hill." Other poems, such as "A Birthday," are earthy, romantic, and sensuous. Rossetti's work encompasses a wide range of styles and forms. Her ballads, sonnets, love lyrics, and nonsense rhymes are all clearly products of an accomplished mind. A devout Anglican, Rossetti spent the last 15 years of her life as a recluse. At the same time, however, Rossetti wrote delightful verse for children, such as the charming lyrics in Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book (1872). The most important collections of her work are Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), considered her finest poetry, and The Prince's Progress and Other Poems (1866).