Christina Rossetti
Passing and Glassing
Meaning
Within this poem, Rossetti explores the typical Victorian attitude towards
women, looking upon the importance of appearances and youth within a
superficial society. However, the poet does not seem to take a critical or feminist
approach towards this topic, but rather takes on a more factual and inevitable
outlook. She highlights the notion that each woman recognises the briefness of
their youth and is aware of losing their beauty and innocent fragility as they get
older. The ambiguous nature of this poem, established immediately by the lack
of clarity given in the title, and created by this neologism ‘Glassing’ provides the
reader with an unclear definition as to the speaker’s explicit meaning. However
the concepts suggested by the verbs ‘Passing’ and the invented verb ‘Glassing’
provides the reader with connotations of the inevitability of human morality, as is
conveyed in the use of the verb ‘Passing’. The neologism ‘glassing’ equally
creates this notion of a person reflecting on their own life as they pass by.
Thereby, it could be interpreted that this poem explores the notion of death and
morality, which is particularly interesting given Victorian conventions of
mourning and fascination with death.
Contextually speaking, the themes within this poem could be said to be relative
to the events in Rossetti’s life previous to and around the time the poem was
written in 1881. Drawing towards the end of Rossetti’s career, this was a time
within the writer’s life in which she had already experienced the deaths of many
of those closest to her (1854 death of father, 1876 Sister, Maria dies) as well as
experiencing loss in other ways, through her rejection of suitors Charles Cayley
and James Collinson. This could explain the reflective tone of the poem and the
semantic field of death used throughout ‘Dead’, ‘Culled’, ‘Withered’ all of which
generate this desolate image of the unavoidable fragility of human life. Thereby,
it could be suggested that the emphasis which Rossetti places on death within
this poem is due to her own experience of how those she loved seemed to have
passed on so quickly , which reminds her of her age, as she grows closer to
death.
Structure
Rossetti’s use of structure in the poem is also important in our interpretation.
The rhyme scheme followed within the poem is interesting, as the first stanza
has an AABBBCCD, as does the third stanza, whilst in the second stanza there is
evident deviation AABCDEFG which is altered' initially by the lack of rhyme in the
short line ‘Sweet the dead violet’, which is perhaps used to put particular
emphasis on the blunt realisation of death as a final and inescapable concept in
a woman’s life. In another way, it could be said that Rossetti constructs the poem
in such a way that the first stanza is supposed to be reflected in the third stanza,
so that the reader receives this notion that the speaker is looking back in a
metaphorical mirror as such. If this is the case, the deviation in rhyme scheme
Passing and Glassing
Meaning
Within this poem, Rossetti explores the typical Victorian attitude towards
women, looking upon the importance of appearances and youth within a
superficial society. However, the poet does not seem to take a critical or feminist
approach towards this topic, but rather takes on a more factual and inevitable
outlook. She highlights the notion that each woman recognises the briefness of
their youth and is aware of losing their beauty and innocent fragility as they get
older. The ambiguous nature of this poem, established immediately by the lack
of clarity given in the title, and created by this neologism ‘Glassing’ provides the
reader with an unclear definition as to the speaker’s explicit meaning. However
the concepts suggested by the verbs ‘Passing’ and the invented verb ‘Glassing’
provides the reader with connotations of the inevitability of human morality, as is
conveyed in the use of the verb ‘Passing’. The neologism ‘glassing’ equally
creates this notion of a person reflecting on their own life as they pass by.
Thereby, it could be interpreted that this poem explores the notion of death and
morality, which is particularly interesting given Victorian conventions of
mourning and fascination with death.
Contextually speaking, the themes within this poem could be said to be relative
to the events in Rossetti’s life previous to and around the time the poem was
written in 1881. Drawing towards the end of Rossetti’s career, this was a time
within the writer’s life in which she had already experienced the deaths of many
of those closest to her (1854 death of father, 1876 Sister, Maria dies) as well as
experiencing loss in other ways, through her rejection of suitors Charles Cayley
and James Collinson. This could explain the reflective tone of the poem and the
semantic field of death used throughout ‘Dead’, ‘Culled’, ‘Withered’ all of which
generate this desolate image of the unavoidable fragility of human life. Thereby,
it could be suggested that the emphasis which Rossetti places on death within
this poem is due to her own experience of how those she loved seemed to have
passed on so quickly , which reminds her of her age, as she grows closer to
death.
Structure
Rossetti’s use of structure in the poem is also important in our interpretation.
The rhyme scheme followed within the poem is interesting, as the first stanza
has an AABBBCCD, as does the third stanza, whilst in the second stanza there is
evident deviation AABCDEFG which is altered' initially by the lack of rhyme in the
short line ‘Sweet the dead violet’, which is perhaps used to put particular
emphasis on the blunt realisation of death as a final and inescapable concept in
a woman’s life. In another way, it could be said that Rossetti constructs the poem
in such a way that the first stanza is supposed to be reflected in the third stanza,
so that the reader receives this notion that the speaker is looking back in a
metaphorical mirror as such. If this is the case, the deviation in rhyme scheme
