Parallels and Contrasts Between the Poetry of D. G. Rossetti and Arthur Symons

(see also Symons, twist.lib.uiowa.edu/Vpoetry/resources)

Symons, pp. 28-29, "The Street-Singer," contrast Rossetti's "Jenny": her physical appearance; her need for money; her relation to speaker; his attitude toward her (see also S's "Stella Maris," p. 43, an obvious case of influence)

S, 30, "On the Beach," st. 3, sea-skyline as infinity, contrast context in R's HL, "The Choice," no. 73

S, 31, "Morbidezza," female object associated with lilies, moon, enclosures, whiteness, swooning, rapture, cmp. beloved in R's HL (see also last 2 lines of S's "At Glan-y-Wern," 43, "Mater Liliarum," 55, st. 3

S, 32, "Maquillage," conclusion cmp. R's HL, "Autumn Idleness," no. 69, last 3 lines

S, 35, "April Midnight," cmp. R's HL, "Lose on Both Sides," no. 91, last lines, contrasting use of metaphor of two persons wandering through city night

S, 36, "During Music," cmp. R's HL, "Known in Vain," no. 65, and "Silent Noon," no. 19, last 2 lines. Lovers sit together in silent communion (see also S's "Celeste: The Prelude," 48)

S, 37, "For a Picture of Watteau," cmp. R's picture poems, esp. "For a Venetian Pastoral by Giorgione"

S, 38, "Nora on the Pavement," contrast R's "The Card-Dealer" (see also S's "Opals," 56 and "The Tarot Cards," 65)

S, 53, "Argues: Night," st. 3 and R's HL, "A Superscription," no. 97

S, 53, "Amor Triumphans: The Dance," and R's HL, passim (esp. "our two souls rushed together," "rushing winds encompassing our feet," and last three lines)

For language reminiscent of the HL, see also "Opals," 56,

And as the opal dies, and is reborn the same,

And all the fire that is its life-blood seems to dart,

Through the veined variable intricacies of its heart,

And ever wandering ever wanders back again. . . .

S, 57, "In the Wood of Finvara," sts. 2 and 4, S, 62, "The Andante of Snakes," esp. st. 1, and S, 66, "The Tragic Dawn," ll. 9-11 (also notice Astarte, subject of Rossetti's late painting, "Astarte Syriaca").

S, 62, "The Andante of Snakes," contrast R's "The Burden of Nineveh" and Wilde's "The Sphinx"

S, 63, "Song of the Sirens," Rossettian image of Siren, female voice like waters ("The Staff and the Scrip"), and of hair which tangles men's souls

Also interesting for comparison is S's "For a Picture of Rossetti" (60-61). Does Symons import non-Rossettian elements into his interpretation of what "Rossetti says/In the crisis of a face"?