Poem Analysis for Christina Rossetti’s Out of the Deep
Themes:
Religious devotion
Inadequacy
Sin
Forgiveness
Summary:
In Rossetti’s ‘Out of the deep’, she creates a highly devotional character who is
flawed yet asks for God’s “mercy” for not being her best religious self. The title ‘out of
the deep’ perhaps alludes to depression, yet ‘out of’ suggests faith in God can lift the
speaker out of such bouts of depression.
Structure:
The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet- a form Rossetti felt most comfortable writing in.
Perhaps suggest her communication with God is where Rossetti feels most at ease.
The love nature of the structure also emphasises the devotional element of the
speaker to God.
More A* analysis on page 2!
Imagery:
The poem begins “have mercy.. My God.. My God”, which immediately suggests the
speaker has sinned and pleads God for forgiveness. The repetition on “my God”
emphasises the speaker’s desperation, also by implication the word is stressed and
the pronoun “my” correlates a personal relation with God. There is utter sorrow in the
line “For I can hardly bare life day by day”- the repetition of “day” only emphasises
the drudgery of life. Rossetti has flooded her poem with biblical references “Lo for thy
staff I have but felt thy rod” which is derived from the passage “the shadow of the
valley of death” where God’s “rod and staff” are meant to be comforting, yet in this
Themes:
Religious devotion
Inadequacy
Sin
Forgiveness
Summary:
In Rossetti’s ‘Out of the deep’, she creates a highly devotional character who is
flawed yet asks for God’s “mercy” for not being her best religious self. The title ‘out of
the deep’ perhaps alludes to depression, yet ‘out of’ suggests faith in God can lift the
speaker out of such bouts of depression.
Structure:
The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet- a form Rossetti felt most comfortable writing in.
Perhaps suggest her communication with God is where Rossetti feels most at ease.
The love nature of the structure also emphasises the devotional element of the
speaker to God.
More A* analysis on page 2!
Imagery:
The poem begins “have mercy.. My God.. My God”, which immediately suggests the
speaker has sinned and pleads God for forgiveness. The repetition on “my God”
emphasises the speaker’s desperation, also by implication the word is stressed and
the pronoun “my” correlates a personal relation with God. There is utter sorrow in the
line “For I can hardly bare life day by day”- the repetition of “day” only emphasises
the drudgery of life. Rossetti has flooded her poem with biblical references “Lo for thy
staff I have but felt thy rod” which is derived from the passage “the shadow of the
valley of death” where God’s “rod and staff” are meant to be comforting, yet in this
