Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these,
Because my love is come to me.
Raise me a daïs of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.
Some thoughts…
on this poem: Rossetti is one of my favorite Pre-Raphaelite poets. I find it interesting that the first stanza is gorgeous in its depiction of nature in all her beauty – the singing bird, fruit-laden boughs, the serene sea together create images evocative of spring, fertility, and peaceful joy.
The second stanza is dazzling in its baroque imagery that paints scenes of sensual oriental opulence.
on a personal note:
My heart is gladder than all these,
Because my love is come to me…
…Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.
Rossetti never married, though she was involved in relationships that she later rejected. Her approach to death bordered on the mystical, and leads me to think that the ‘birthday’ she speaks of alludes to a spiritual rebirth, ushering in the true love of one’s life. Note the use of the verb ‘is come to me’, rather than ‘has’. Is it poetic license, or is it perhaps, symbolic of an awakening to an Eternal, ever-present Love, the awareness of which signifies the real birthday of one’s life?
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