A Bride Song.

By Christina Georgina Rossetti

Narrative Poem
    Through the vales to my love!     To the happy small nest of home     Green from basement to roof;     Where the honey-bees come     To the window-sill flowers,     And dive from above,     Safe from the spider that weaves     Her warp and her woof     In some outermost leaves.     Through the vales to my love!     In sweet April hours     All rainbows and showers,     While dove answers dove, -     In beautiful May,     When the orchards are tender     And frothing with flowers, -     In opulent June,     When the wheat stands up slender     By sweet-smelling hay,     And half the sun's splendour     Descends to the moon.     Through the vales to my love!     Where the turf is so soft to the feet,     And the thyme makes it sweet,     And the stately foxglove     Hangs silent its exquisite bells;     And where water wells     The greenness grows greener,     And bulrushes stand     Round a lily to screen her.     Nevertheless, if this land,     Like a garden to smell and to sight,     Were turned to a desert of sand,     Stripped bare of delight,     All its best gone to worst,     For my feet no repose,     No water to comfort my thirst,     And heaven like a furnace above, -     The desert would be     As gushing of waters to me,     The wilderness be as a rose,     If it led me to thee,     O my love!

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Poem Details

Language: English
Keywords: Public Domain
Source: Public Domain Collection
Rights/Permissions: Public Domain
Analysis & Notes:
This poem celebrates the speaker's love through a series of idyllic descriptions of a bucolic landscape. The speaker's fervent devotion is conveyed through the repeated refrain Through the vales to my love!, a declaration that anchors the poem's structure and underscores the intensity of their affection. The poem unfolds in three stanzas, each progressively building on the previous one to paint a vivid picture of the natural world. The first stanza focuses on the safety and tranquility of home, the second on the beauty of the changing seasons, and the third on the sensory delights of a specific location. The voice is consistently lyrical and passionate, employing rich imagery of flowers, birds, and lush vegetation to evoke a sense of sensory abundance. The poem's tonal shift occurs in the final stanza, where the speaker imagines a desolate desert transformed into a paradise simply because it leads to their beloved. This dramatic turn reveals the speaker's unwavering love, suggesting that even the harshest environment would be bearable if it led them to their object of affection. This remarkable shift underscores the transformative power of love, elevating it above all earthly concerns and transforming even the most desolate landscapes into places of beauty and hope.

Exploring Narrative Poetry

Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and characters as well. Unlike lyric poetry, which focuses on emotions and thoughts, narrative poetry is dedicated to storytelling, weaving tales that captivate readers through plot and character development.

Narrative poems are unique in their ability to combine the depth of storytelling with the expressive qualities of poetry. Here are some defining characteristics:

  • Structured Plot: Narrative poems typically have a clear beginning, middle, and end, following a plot that might involve conflict, climax, and resolution, much like a short story or novel.
  • Character Development: Characters in narrative poems are often well-developed, with distinct voices and personalities that drive the story forward.
  • Descriptive Language: The language used in narrative poetry is vivid and descriptive, painting a clear picture of the scenes and events, while also conveying the emotions and atmosphere of the story.

From ancient epics like "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" to more modern narrative poems, this form continues to engage readers by blending the art of storytelling with the beauty and rhythm of poetry.