"Uphill" by Christina Rossetti is an allegory about life and death. Rossetti is considered one of the finest religious poets of her time and her many spiritual beliefs are conveyed in her poem "Uphill". H.B. de Groot said, "Undeniably, her strong lyric gifts are often held in check by her moral and theological scruples" (Groot). The dialogue style Rossetti uses mimics the parables told by Jesus in The Bible. In "Overview of Christina (Georgina) Rossetti" one author stated that during her adult life, Rossetti turned down two marriage proposals, due to her strong religious convictions. Instead of marrying, she used her convictions to script eloquent poetry that reaffirms faith for the faithful and provides faith for the hopeless. Rossetti 's use of metaphors, symbols, and biblical allusions in "Uphill" conveys the idea of life and death and represents the difficult journey to salvation and the promise of eternal life in heaven.
In "Uphill," Rossetti uses metaphors to invite the reader to draw comparisons between one 's journey through life, death, and eternal rest. The first question and answer the speaker mentions is a metaphor to depict the road being traveled, conveying that it is difficult and long, much like life: "Does the road wind up-hill all the way?/Yes, to the very end" (Rossetti 1-2). In lines five and seven the speaker develops the metaphor of night and darkness to mean death: "But is there for the night a resting-place?/May not the darkness hide it from my face" (5/7)? The speaker seems doubtful and unsure about the process of death and provokes the speaker to ask questions about the after-life. Assurance of such a place is found in line eight when the inn is used as a metaphor to describe heave, a place that: "You cannot miss…" (8).
The author uses symbols to assist the reader by evoking a deeper subconscious meaning of one 's uphill trek towards heaven. The title of the poem "Uphill" serves as a symbol for the difficulties encountered along the speaker 's journey. In lines six and eight the words _roof_ and _inn_ are symbols for the security felt, "…when the slow dark hours begin./You cannot miss that inn" (6/8). Rossetti uses the word _bed_ in lines fifteen and sixteen to represent the final resting place for those seeking eternal life in heaven: "Will there be beds for me and all who seek?/Yea, beds for all who come (15-16). Beds invoke feelings of comfort and warmth and peace. The speaker hopes to find the same comfort and peace in heaven with an eternal place to sleep.
The Biblical allusions Rossetti uses in the poem help the reader understand what happens after death. Matthew 7:14 explains that the path to salvation will be difficult and long and is referenced in line three when the speaker asks how long the day 's journey will take: "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (_New International Version_, Matthew. 7.14). In the Bible, Christ teaches that there are two ways; right and wrong, good and evil. The road to the narrow gate is not only constricted, but also uphill. It is a struggle and often not the easy way, which is why only few endure it. But it is the only path that will lead you to eternal life. All other ways may be easier, but lead to destruction. In lines eleven and twelve, the speaker receives assurance that by knocking, the doors will be open at the end of the journey, a Biblical allusion to Matthew 7:7. This verse states that if one asks, seeks, and knocks that the door will be open: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7.7). In John 14:2 Jesus comforts his twelve disciples by saying: "There is more than enough room in my Father 's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come get you, so that you will always be with me where I am" (John 14.2). This verse serves as a point of reference to lines fifteen and sixteen in the poem: "Will there be beds for me and all who seek?/Yea, beds for all who come" (15-16). Christians believe that there is a dwelling-place in which devout believing souls would abide forever. Believers gain comfort in knowing that He has already prepared such a special place that is vast and sufficient in room for all his people.
Rossetti 's poem is a beautiful illustration of ones journey through life as illustrated by the questions the speaker asks throughout the poem. In the beginning the speaker is anxious about the journey that lies ahead and asks: "Does the road wind up-hill all the way" (1), but by the end of the poem the speaker is peaceful and assured about the final resting place: "Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak" (13)? Rossetti links one 's journey to life, death, and eternity by using metaphors throughout the text. Symbols are layered throughout the text to assist the reader with identifying heaven. Rossetti 's use of Biblical allusions allow the reader to grasps what eternity will be like for those that believe and stay the course of the _uphill_ journey. The difficult life and death decisions made along the journey towards salvation and eternity in heaven are made evident throughout the poem with the use of metaphors, symbols, and Biblical allusions.
Works Cited
"Christina Rossetti." _Contemporary Authors Online_. Detroit: Gale, 2006. _Literature Resource_
_Center_. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
_English Standard Version_. Bible Gateway. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Rossetti, Christina. "Uphill." _Literature; An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing_. Seventh Edition. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013.
Cited: "Christina Rossetti." _Contemporary Authors Online_. Detroit: Gale, 2006. _Literature Resource_ _Center_. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. _English Standard Version_. Bible Gateway. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. Rossetti, Christina. "Uphill." _Literature; An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing_. Seventh Edition. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
While the religious icon had been a popular type of painting since the medieval period, a new style of icon emerged during the fifteenth century; this new icon was a type of hybrid. This new hybrid icon was a mixture of Western European and Eastern Greek and Byzantine styles while still maintaining its spiritual value. Not only did the west effect the east though, but byzantine styles had a great effect on the art of Venice; specifically in the work of Giovanni Bellini.…
- 805 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The text "Sky high" contains six stanzas two of an adult and four of a child. In the first stanza H. Robert is reminiscing about her old back yard. "Silver skeletal arms throwing long, summer afternoon shadows on the lawn." The reader is drawn into the text by the technique of personification, bringing the text to life. The idea of feeling of sense of mystery is shown through the alliteration of the letter "s".. "..Struggling sapling, surround...spectators..." "Like colored flags in secret code." The washing on the line seems to be a secret message to the child and shows the reader that the child's world is exciting and unexplained.…
- 438 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
I feel this poem has impressionistic, decorative, and picturesque imagery. To allow you to visualize what’s going on and experience the emotions being expressed. Symbols were used to help add to the picture. One would be the bird that has a broken wing and moving in circles showed that everyone is capable of getting hurt. Another symbol is the goat’s bones, symbolizing that danger is always present in our lives. Birney used alliteration to flow from one word to another. An example of this would be “seracs that shore”. Similies were used to create an intense picture.”An overhang crooked like a talon” reveal’s the power and threat a mountain gives off. The metaphorical image: “... mountain... were made to see over, / Stairs to the valleys and steps to the sun’s retreats” relates to life. Mountains are the barriers to life in which you must overcome. The stairs resemble the chance to overcome the barrier. The sun setting shows missed opportunity.…
- 375 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Told by a third person narrator, the poem begins in media res with dialogue from the persistent ‘neighbour’s son’, admirer of Jessie Cameron, repeating the titular character’s name with desire. This young lady who Rossetti creates as self-confident and stubborn is formed as a woman in her own right who is defiant enough to refuse the hand of a bachelor, multiple times. Subsequently, the setting of the beach becomes clearer, as the menacing sea draws nearer. Jessie’s persistence becomes more forceful as the story progresses until she starts refusing to answer him. We then hear of the ‘foot that would not fly’, and the meaning of this becomes apparent when the poem moves into the second part, where rumours are discussed about the death of the pair, through reported narrative. The poem ends with the debate of possibilities about their deaths, and the distinct image of the ‘hand or hair’ in the sea.…
- 931 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Rossetti also uses her choice of language in the poem very wisely in order to tell this story. She uses quite a few biblical references such as the stairway to heaven, “stairs that mount above”, and the “sea of glass”. In line 4 where she says “I choose the stairs that mount above” tells us that she is possibly on her death bed and making her way to heaven. It also makes us question whether it has been suicide because of the way she says that she chooses those stairs. She follows on from her biblical references to say “my lily feet are soiled with mud”. This could be her telling us of her sin, they reason she is repenting. We know that she is addressing her lover, so the use of this symbolism tells us that she is no longer ‘innocent’ and it indicates to us that the sin she is repenting is in fact a sexual relationship with her lover outside of marriage. She also repeats the word “blood” quite a lot in the poem, which could be another biblical reference, but could also be another indication that she is either dead or…
- 560 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Godspell truly captivates the heart and mind of the mere spectator because of its austerity, and its provincial meanings. The movie is not a message for our times, or a movie to focus on the movement of Jesus, or even quite a movie for the youth. In Fact, it is a sequence of stories and tunes, like the bible is, and it is conveyed with the straightforwardness that ingenuous stories demand: with zero illusions, no knowledgeable implements, and a lot of modest honesty.…
- 557 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Written in loose iambic pentameters, the rising metre often speeds up the pace of the poem. By composing an epic poem, Rossetti emphasises the fast pace of the storey she is telling and the passion it involves.…
- 4695 Words
- 19 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Cited: Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. Literature, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. Seventh edition. Boston: Pearson, 2010. Print.…
- 770 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Dante faces a large obstacle, which fills him with fear, but what waits on other side gives him hope. As Dante exits the dark forest of his past, he comes across a huge hill. When reaching the hill he says, “But when I’d reached the bottom of a hill-/ it rose along the boundary of the valley/ that had harassed me heart with so much fear-/ I looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed/ already by the rays of that same planet/ which serves to lead men straight along all roads./ At this my fear was somewhat quieted” (I.13-19). Dante is saying that when he first reaches the hill his fear overcomes all emotions. He then looks at the top of the hill and sees light which gives him hope. If Dante wasn’t so afraid of the hill, the light at the top wouldn’t have been so important to him. He is afraid of not making it up the hill and not reaching the rays of sun, so he…
- 702 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Cited: Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. "To Build a Fire." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Twelfth ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 127-37. Print.…
- 1379 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
Opening with brilliant, entrancing imagery that describes the distinctions of fall, Updike uses a comparison of red apples caught like red fish, revealing a sense of entrapment felt by the reader. This contrast also shows how he sees that the apple’s fate is dependent of the branch, parallel to the fishes fate and perhaps his own. The rich imagery he employs during the first stanza gives the reader a sense that Updike is surrounded by a peaceful utopia. By using the Bible, a well-known, strong foundation, and comparing it to a large cloud of insignificant dots, he shows the reader once again how much loneliness he feels even if he is immersed in a beautiful utopia. The dots represent his own insignificance and the Bible shows everything greater than him. Just as well, he uses the undulating paper underneath him to show how the world around him is constantly adapting and changing; not waiting for his thoughts or emotions to catch up.…
- 305 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In Remember, the speaker is a dead person speaking to her beloved. "Remember me when I am gone away....into the silent land." The poem opens with the deceased asking her loved one to remember her when she enters the silent land, a metaphor for time after death and a relationship. Time is lost and relationships are severed when one dies. In the poem, the man wants to remember and mourn while the woman wants him to forget. "Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." She would rather he moved on with his life and forget her instead of stopping his life and being overwhelmed with grief. In The Cross of Snow, the speaker is the survivor thinking of a deceased loved one. Longfellow uses words such as "long" and "sleepless" to demonstrate how life seemed to go by slower after the death of his beloved. He is unable to sleep, and remains awake in the room where his wife died, metaphor; he is bearing a cross of grief for his dead wife. "Eighteen year....seasons, changeless since the day she died." Longfellow explains how nothing is the same without his love. The seasons seem to blend together and everything seems pointless. Rossetti's poem has a more secular view, while Longfellow's is more Christian. Longfellow uses imagery that relates to Jesus, such as the "cross of snow," which represents…
- 391 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Updike begins his poem with introducing himself as an intimate “God” to his characters. He states that with the beginning of each new day his characters will “greet [him] with misty faces” giving him “instant obedience” in order to continue the day. This imagery helps the reader visualize the trust for Updike that the characters have along with the resignation they have…
- 523 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Moreover, repetition adds to the imagery of the poem and helps support the theme. "Tell", "ain't", "crystal stair", "tacks", "splinters", "torn", "places", "carpet", "time", "peace", "climb", "corners", "steps": the constant repetition of p's, t's,and s's render the reader completely breathless imitating the exhaustive uphill…
- 2056 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
Margaret Atwood uses different uses of figurative language to make her viewpoints realistic and easy to understand. The poem starts off with a strong metaphor that is connecting birth to the accident. The author is using the way her son has recently died, in a river, to describe how a river is the cycle of life. He has crossed the river into birth and if he crosses the river again it would be into death. In the second stanza the son’s birth is described as a life full of success to come, it is then followed with how since he is now dead his life will now be a “voyage of discovery.” This means that his life was once an open opportunity but now will forever be unknown for what he could have been. In the ninth stanza there is another metaphor as the mother begins to look back on the things that have happened to her. She says how “My foot has hit rock,” meaning that she has hit rock bottom in her life and will forever be in pain. Throughout the poem the author uses similes, such as in lines twenty eight and twenty nine, “I planted him in this country like a flag.” In this simile she is saying how no matter someone's age they can leave an impact on the world. The death of the young boy has left an impact on the mother’s life forever. Personification is another example of figurative language that is used within this poem. In lines twenty two and twenty three the mother says, “the new grass leapt to solidity.”…
- 501 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays