1. Goblin Market
- Christina Rossetti

2. Rossetti composed Goblin Market in 1859 and first published it in Goblin Market and Other Poems in It is her longest poem and the most widely known and read of all her works. Its publication helped to launch her literary career. It also helped to inspire Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).

4. Questions – The Market What is the significance of the title?
What currency does Laura use to buy the goblin men’s fruit? Why is this significant?
Write a summary of:
Stanzas 1-5
Stanzas 6-15
Stanzas 16-23
Stanzas 24-29

5. The Market
More about hair: Hair was a massive cultural commodity in Victorian culture. It was common to exchange locks of hair and put them in jewellery and other ornaments. Throughout the poetry of the period, women's hair has been variously depicted as a weapon, a veil, a snare, a web and a noose.
The poem opens with a long list of different ripe fruits. This list is overwhelming and confusing. Many are fruits imported from different countries such as dates, lemons and oranges. These would have been a novelty for many Victorian readers and their inclusion in the poem suggests an awareness of the changing commercial marketplace.
Laura buys the fruit from the goblin men with a curl of her hair. They compare it to coins when they speak of the ‘gold' upon her head and highlight its ‘precious' nature (lines 123, 126). This accords with the folklore tradition that fairies highly prize golden hair.

6. Questions – The Market In what ways is Laura's hair a commodity?
What do you think it signifies?
In her depiction of the marketplace, what comments do you think that Rossetti is making about Victorian society?

7. Stanzas 1-5
Two sisters, Lizzie and Laura, go to collect water at dusk, when they hear the enticing cries of goblin traders selling luscious fruit. Lizzie is alert to the danger of engaging with the goblins and runs home, but Laura is entranced. The goblins notice this and although she has no money, sell her all sorts of delicious fruit, for the price of a curl of her hair. Laura devours the fruit until she is intoxicated, then returns home, with one fruit stone in her possession.

8. Stanzas 6-15
Lizzie is concerned for her sister, knowing that a friend of theirs, Jeanie, pined away and died after eating the goblins' fruit, but at first all seems well. The sisters sleep calmly together and next day do their chores. That evening, after collecting the water, Laura waits to hear the goblins come again, despite Lizzie's warnings. However, whilst Lizzie is still able to see and hear the goblins, Laura can now no longer do so. Yearning for the fruit she cannot get, Laura loses her health and youthful beauty. She tries to plant the fruit stone but it does not grow. In despair, Laura stops eating or doing any chores.

9. Stanzas 16-23
To alleviate her sister's sufferings, though aware of Jeanie's fate, Lizzie decides to buy some goblin fruit with a silver penny. This delights the goblins until Lizzie asks that they put the fruit in her apron and refuses to eat it. The goblins try to persuade her otherwise, then attack her, trying to force the fruit into her mouth. Lizzie resists and although her face is smeared with juice, refuses to open her mouth. At last, the goblins toss back the penny and disappear with their fruit. Although battered and bruised, Lizzie races home to her sister.

10. Stanzas 24-29
Lizzie invites Laura to kiss the juice left on her face, hoping it will be an antidote to her decline. Laura does so, ravenously, although she is concerned for the danger her sister has put herself in. The juice acts like poison, but Laura is unable to stop herself, until finally she collapses, close to death. Through the night Lizzie nurses her sister and in the morning Laura wakes up restored to health and beauty. In later years, when both girls have become wives and mothers, Laura warns her children of the danger posed by the goblins and commends the love of her sister in rescuing her.

11. Questions
Rossetti's initial title for her poem was A Peep at the Goblins. What do you think the word ‘peep' suggests?
The speaker recalls, ‘Lizzie covered up her eyes, / Covered close lest they should look' (lines 50-51). What does this statement say about the dangers of curiosity and temptation?
Which title (A Peep at the Goblins or Goblin Market) do you prefer and why? Why do you think that Rossetti chose the title Goblin Market?

12. Consider: Multiple Interpretations
As we study the poem imagine yourself at these ages – what interpretations of the poems would you come up with at this age?
The 6 Year old Interpretation
The 13 Year Old Interpretation
The 18 Year Old Interpretation
Clue 1: Garden of Eden
Clue 2: Drugs & Addiction
Clue 3: Religion & Sacrifice
Clue 4: Fairytales
Clue 5: Markets & Economy
Clue 6: Feminism& Sisterhood

13. Language and Tone Rhyme
Think about the descriptions of sight and sound in the poem. How do the goblins make their fruit sound alluring? Why do you think that Laura can no longer hear the cry of the goblin men?
Highlight and link together words of sight, sound and taste. What do you notice about how they are combined throughout the poem?
Rhyme
The irregular rhyme carries the poem forwards. The poem contains numerous couplets which occur especially in its lists. This increases the speed at which the poem is read and creates a rushed and breathless feel. For instance, by framing the goblin's cry using couplets and triplets, Rossetti emphasises its speed and draws attention to its overwhelming nature as it overpowers listeners with variety and quantity of description.
Throughout the poem, rhyme is used consistently to determine the pace and to link certain words together. For instance, the alternate repetition of the words ‘brother' and ‘other' (lines 93-96) draws attention to the otherness of the goblins. Their brotherhood shares little in common to the sisterhood that Lizzie and Laura enjoy. It is ‘other' in the sense that it is not based in any kind of love but in mutual distrust and competition.

14. Repetition
Certain phrases, such as the merchants' cry ‘Come buy, come buy', are repeated throughout the poem. This highlights their insistence and the force of the temptation they offer.
Throughout the poem, instances of repetition occur when a passionate declaration is made. For instance, Laura repeats the phrase ‘I have no' three times to emphasise her haste in tasting the goblin fruits and to present a defence to the goblins themselves (lines ). In contrast, Lizzie's speech to the goblins is measured and determined.
The phrase ‘Or like' is repeated four times in the depiction of Laura's recovery (lines ). This repetition emphasises the difficulty in finding words to describe the effects of the antidote and the inadequacy of the similes that are offered. The speaker suggests that the recovery is so sudden and powerful that it is almost impossible to put into words.

15. Structure and versification
Metre
For the most part, the poem is written in loose iambic tetrameters. The iambic foot is a rising metre and often speeds up the pace at which a poem is read. By composing such a long poem in this form, Rossetti emphasises the fast pace of the story she is telling and the passion that it involves.
The iambic tetrameters can be described as loose since they give way to numerous variations throughout the poem:
Much of the language associated with the goblins is written in rhythmic dactylic dimeter, which adds to the effect of incantation by which they attract the girls
Lizzie interrupts the lilting beat when she declares, ‘No, no, no' and tells Laura not to be charmed by the fruit they offer since it is evil and harmful (lines 64-66). The repetition of her ‘No' emphasises her firmness and draws attention to the dangers of allowing oneself to listen lazily to anything that passes
The stiff spondees in stanza 15 (‘fetched honey', ‘brought water', ‘sat down') verbally indicate the way in which Laura is physically ‘seizing up' as her illness takes hold
In the description of Laura's recovery, spondees are used to give emphasis to the power of the antidote that Lizzie brings her. The repetition of the same initial letters in the phrases ‘Swift fire' and ‘Sense failed' (lines ) further increases the sense of the rush of life that overcomes Laura as she recovers.
line consisting of four iambic feet. The word "tetrameter" simply means that there are four feet in the line; iambic tetrameter is a line comprising four iambs.
Dactyls are metrical feet that have three syllables instead of two - the first stressed and the following two unstressed.
a foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables.

16. Task
Choose a passage and describe how the metre it uses works to reinforce the tone of the speaker
Consider the rhyme schemes that are used throughout the poem. Where does the rhyme work to increase the pace at which the poem is read?
Describe the effect of enjambment throughout the poem.

17. Symbolism and Imagery Religious Symbolism Animalistic Goblin Men
‘Come buy' – the Goblins' opening words echo a famous invitation in the Bible from God to his people:
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
- Isaiah 55:1 TNIV
However, unlike the freedom of the biblical offer, the goblins are seeking to entrap those who accept their food.
Religious Symbolism
The poem describes the goblins in terms of animals.
One had a cat's face,
One whisked a tail,
One tramped at a rat's pace,
One crawled like a snail,
One like a wombat prowled obtuse and furry,
One like a ratel tumbled hurry skcurry. (lines 71-6)
A ‘ratel' is a honey-badger. Their animal-like features highlight their base nature and their wild passions and desires. Like animals, they are unpredictable and as their attack on Lizzie demonstrates, have the potential to become ferocious. The fact that they are neither fully animal nor fully human emphasises the fact that they are unnatural and unrestrained. It also increases the distinction that can be made between them and the two sisters.
Animalistic Goblin Men

18. Fire
The image of fire occurs repeatedly throughout ‘Goblin Market' and is used in various ways to depict life, passion, lust, life and health:
‘Bright-fire-like barberries' (line 27). Its implicit inclusion could indicate the danger hidden by the fruit's ripe look and appealing and texture
After her first taste of the goblin fruit, Laura returns to the brook ‘most like a leaping flame' (line 218). Compared to Lizzie who accompanied her in a state ‘most placid in her look' (216), Laura's passion is shown to be unhealthy and dangerous
Laura falls into a swift decline when she is no longer able to enjoy life after tasting the goblin fruits:
‘She dwindled, as the fair full moon doth turn
To swift decay and burn
Her fire away' (lines )
Laura reclaims her life and reignites her spirituality by clinging to and kissing Lizzie. As a result:
‘Swift fire spread through her veins, knocked at her heart,
Met the fire smouldering there
And overbore its lesser flame' (lines 507-8)

19. Fire
When Laura realises the sacrifice Lizzie has made for her sake, she associates fire with light and asks her, ‘Must your light like mine be hidden' (line 480). In this, she alludes to an image from the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament:
‘Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven'.
- (Matthew 5:15-16) TNIV
At the end of the poem, we are reminded that Lizzie's intention was to ‘win the fiery antidote' for her sister (line 557).
The fact that this antidote was ‘fiery' indicates its potential to destroy as well as to heal.

20. Forbidden Fruit
The fruit that the goblins succeed in getting Laura to taste is portrayed as luscious and inviting, appealing to all the senses. It can also be interpreted as the forbidden fruit that Eve tastes in the Garden of Eden. As this fruit led to the exclusion of Adam and Eve from the garden, so, for Laura, tasting the fruit leads to near-death.
Some of the fruit is unfamiliar:
•‘bullaces' are a kind of damson
•‘citrons' are a lemon-like fruit.

21. Lizzie as a Christ figure
Lizzie demonstrates similarities to Jesus' act of sacrifice on the cross:
Christians believe that Jesus made himself a willing sacrifice in order to overcome the curse of death that had fallen on humanity when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit
Echoing this, Lizzie submits to the abuse of the goblin men in order that she save her sister from death and give her the hope of a new life.
When Lizzie tells her sister to: ‘Eat me, drink me', she echoes the words of Jesus at the Last Supper.

22. Redemption
Rossetti describes Lizzie's act of redemption through metaphor and simile:
Like a lily in a flood - A lily has traditionally been considered as a symbol of purity and innocence. By describing Lizzie as a ‘lily in a flood', Rossetti suggests that she is able to retain her purity and innocence even under pressure and the force of destruction.
A rock of blue-veined stone - Whilst linking Lizzie to a rock indicates her strength which cannot easily be broken, the allusion to her as a ‘blue-veined stone' suggests both her intrinsic delicacy and her status as a royal child (of God). The phrase ‘blue blood' indicates noble birth or descent. By combining this image with the image of a rock, which is used throughout the New Testament to speak of Jesus, an understanding of Lizzie as noble and royal is sustained
A beacon left alone - Lizzie can be described as a beacon in that, as Christ who is described repeatedly as a ‘light' throughout the New Testament, she demonstrates a pure and holy way of living, ‘alone' and apart from the evil that exists in the world
A fruit-crowned orange tree - The word ‘crowned' denotes royalty and nobility. By using the term ‘crowned' in a description of Lizzie, Rossetti draws attention to her noble qualities of leadership and perseverance. Lizzie's purity is conveyed by it being an orange tree: orange blossom is a symbol of chastity (hence its use at weddings).

23. Imagery Which of these symbols do you find the most striking and why?
Fire
Honey from the rock
A lily in a flood
A rock of blue-veined stone
A beacon left alone
A fruit-crowned orange tree
What do the symbols you have considered say about Lizzie's character?
What do they indicate about growth?
Which words indicate strength?
Think about the depiction of colour here. Where else in the poem is colour used? ◦What is the effect of this use of colour?

24. Goblin Market Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry:
“Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy:
Apples and quinces,
Lemons and oranges,
Plump unpeck’d cherries,
Melons and raspberries,
Bloom-down-cheek’d peaches,
Swart-headed mulberries,
Wild free-born cranberries,
Crab-apples, dewberries,
Pine-apples, blackberries,
Apricots, strawberries;—
All ripe together
In summer weather,—
Morns that pass by,
Fair eves that fly;
Our grapes fresh from the vine,
Pomegranates full and fine,
Dates and sharp bullaces,
Rare pears and greengages,
Damsons and bilberries,
Taste them and try:
Currants and gooseberries,
Bright-fire-like barberries,
Figs to fill your mouth,
Citrons from the South,
Sweet to tongue and sound to eye;
Come buy, come buy.”

25. In summer weather,—
Morns that pass by,
Fair eves that fly;
Come buy, come buy:
Our grapes fresh from the vine,
Pomegranates full and fine,
Dates and sharp bullaces,
Rare pears and greengages,
Damsons and bilberries,
Taste them and try:
Currants and gooseberries,
Bright-fire-like barberries,
Figs to fill your mouth,
Citrons from the South,
Sweet to tongue and sound to eye;
Come buy, come buy.”

26. Evening by evening
Among the brookside rushes,
Laura bow’d her head to hear,
Lizzie veil’d her blushes:
Crouching close together
In the cooling weather,
With clasping arms and cautioning lips,
With tingling cheeks and finger tips.
“Lie close,” Laura said,
Pricking up her golden head:
“We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?”
“Come buy,” call the goblins
Hobbling down the glen.

27. “Oh,” cried Lizzie, “Laura, Laura,
You should not peep at goblin men.”
Lizzie cover’d up her eyes,
Cover’d close lest they should look;
Laura rear’d her glossy head,
And whisper’d like the restless brook:
“Look, Lizzie, look, Lizzie,
Down the glen tramp little men.
One hauls a basket,
One bears a plate,
One lugs a golden dish
Of many pounds weight.
How fair the vine must grow
Whose grapes are so luscious;
How warm the wind must blow
Through those fruit bushes.”
“No,” said Lizzie, “No, no, no;
Their offers should not charm us,
Their evil gifts would harm us.”
She thrust a dimpled finger
In each ear, shut eyes and ran:
Curious Laura chose to linger
Wondering at each merchant man.
One had a cat’s face,
One whisk’d a tail,
One tramp’d at a rat’s pace,
One crawl’d like a snail,
One like a wombat prowl’d obtuse and furry,
One like a ratel tumbled hurry skurry.
She heard a voice like voice of doves
Cooing all together:
They sounded kind and full of loves
In the pleasant weather.

28. “No,” said Lizzie, “No, no, no;
Their offers should not charm us,
Their evil gifts would harm us.”
She thrust a dimpled finger
In each ear, shut eyes and ran:
Curious Laura chose to linger
Wondering at each merchant man.
One had a cat’s face,
One whisk’d a tail,
One tramp’d at a rat’s pace,
One crawl’d like a snail,
One like a wombat prowl’d obtuse and furry,
One like a ratel tumbled hurry skurry.
She heard a voice like voice of doves
Cooing all together:
They sounded kind and full of loves
In the pleasant weather.

29. Laura stretch’d her gleaming neck
Like a rush-imbedded swan,
Like a lily from the beck,
Like a moonlit poplar branch,
Like a vessel at the launch
When its last restraint is gone.

30. Backwards up the mossy glen
Turn’d and troop’d the goblin men,
With their shrill repeated cry,
“Come buy, come buy.”
When they reach’d where Laura was
They stood stock still upon the moss,
Leering at each other,
Brother with queer brother;
Signalling each other,
Brother with sly brother.
One set his basket down,
One rear’d his plate;
One began to weave a crown
Of tendrils, leaves, and rough nuts brown
(Men sell not such in any town);
One heav’d the golden weight
Of dish and fruit to offer her:
“Come buy, come buy,” was still their cry.
Laura stared but did not stir,
Long’d but had no money:
The whisk-tail’d merchant bade her taste
In tones as smooth as honey,
The cat-faced purr’d,
The rat-faced spoke a word
Of welcome, and the snail-paced even was heard;
One parrot-voiced and jolly
Cried “Pretty Goblin” still for “Pretty Polly;”—
One whistled like a bird.

31. “Come buy, come buy,” was still their cry.
Laura stared but did not stir,
Long’d but had no money:
The whisk-tail’d merchant bade her taste
In tones as smooth as honey,
The cat-faced purr’d,
The rat-faced spoke a word
Of welcome, and the snail-paced even was heard;
One parrot-voiced and jolly
Cried “Pretty Goblin” still for “Pretty Polly;”—
One whistled like a bird.

32. But sweet-tooth Laura spoke in haste:
“Good folk, I have no coin;
To take were to purloin:
I have no copper in my purse,
I have no silver either,
And all my gold is on the furze
That shakes in windy weather
Above the rusty heather.”
“You have much gold upon your head,”
They answer’d all together:
“Buy from us with a golden curl.”
She clipp’d a precious golden lock,
She dropp’d a tear more rare than pearl,
Then suck’d their fruit globes fair or red:
Sweeter than honey from the rock,
Stronger than man-rejoicing wine,
Clearer than water flow’d that juice;
She never tasted such before,
How should it cloy with length of use?
She suck’d and suck’d and suck’d the more
Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;
She suck’d until her lips were sore;
Then flung the emptied rinds away
But gather’d up one kernel stone,
And knew not was it night or day
As she turn’d home alone.

33. She never tasted such before,
How should it cloy with length of use?
She suck’d and suck’d and suck’d the more
Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;
She suck’d until her lips were sore;
Then flung the emptied rinds away
But gather’d up one kernel stone,
And knew not was it night or day
As she turn’d home alone.

34. Lizzie met her at the gate
Full of wise upbraidings:
“Dear, you should not stay so late,
Twilight is not good for maidens;
Should not loiter in the glen
In the haunts of goblin men.
Do you not remember Jeanie,
How she met them in the moonlight,
Took their gifts both choice and many,
Ate their fruits and wore their flowers
Pluck’d from bowers
Where summer ripens at all hours?
But ever in the noonlight
She pined and pined away;
Sought them by night and day,
Found them no more, but dwindled and grew grey;
Then fell with the first snow,
While to this day no grass will grow
Where she lies low:
I planted daisies there a year ago
That never blow.
You should not loiter so.”
“Nay, hush,” said Laura:
“Nay, hush, my sister:
I ate and ate my fill,
Yet my mouth waters still;
To-morrow night I will
Buy more;” and kiss’d her:
“Have done with sorrow;
I’ll bring you plums to-morrow
Fresh on their mother twigs,
Cherries worth getting;
You cannot think what figs
My teeth have met in,
What melons icy-cold
Piled on a dish of gold
Too huge for me to hold,
What peaches with a velvet nap,
Pellucid grapes without one seed:
Odorous indeed must be the mead
Whereon they grow, and pure the wave they drink
With lilies at the brink,
And sugar-sweet their sap.”

35. While to this day no grass will grow
Where she lies low:
I planted daisies there a year ago
That never blow.
You should not loiter so.”
“Nay, hush,” said Laura:
“Nay, hush, my sister:
I ate and ate my fill,
Yet my mouth waters still;
To-morrow night I will
Buy more;” and kiss’d her:
“Have done with sorrow;
I’ll bring you plums to-morrow
Fresh on their mother twigs,
Cherries worth getting;
You cannot think what figs
My teeth have met in,
What melons icy-cold
Piled on a dish of gold
Too huge for me to hold,
What peaches with a velvet nap,
Pellucid grapes without one seed:
Odorous indeed must be the mead
Whereon they grow, and pure the wave they drink
With lilies at the brink,
And sugar-sweet their sap.”

36. What melons icy-cold
Piled on a dish of gold
Too huge for me to hold,
What peaches with a velvet nap,
Pellucid grapes without one seed:
Odorous indeed must be the mead
Whereon they grow, and pure the wave they drink
With lilies at the brink,
And sugar-sweet their sap.”

37. Golden head by golden head,
Like two pigeons in one nest
Folded in each other’s wings,
They lay down in their curtain’d bed:
Like two blossoms on one stem,
Like two flakes of new-fall’n snow,
Like two wands of ivory
Tipp’d with gold for awful kings.
Moon and stars gaz’d in at them,
Wind sang to them lullaby,
Lumbering owls forbore to fly,
Not a bat flapp’d to and fro
Round their rest:
Cheek to cheek and breast to breast
Lock’d together in one nest.

38. Early in the morning
When the first cock crow’d his warning,
Neat like bees, as sweet and busy,
Laura rose with Lizzie:
Fetch’d in honey, milk’d the cows,
Air’d and set to rights the house,
Kneaded cakes of whitest wheat,
Cakes for dainty mouths to eat,
Next churn’d butter, whipp’d up cream,
Fed their poultry, sat and sew’d;
Talk’d as modest maidens should:
Lizzie with an open heart,
Laura in an absent dream,
One content, one sick in part;
One warbling for the mere bright day’s delight,
One longing for the night.

39. At length slow evening came:
They went with pitchers to the reedy brook;
Lizzie most placid in her look,
Laura most like a leaping flame.
They drew the gurgling water from its deep;
Lizzie pluck’d purple and rich golden flags,
Then turning homeward said: “The sunset flushes
Those furthest loftiest crags;
Come, Laura, not another maiden lags.
No wilful squirrel wags,
The beasts and birds are fast asleep.”
But Laura loiter’d still among the rushes
And said the bank was steep.

40. And said the hour was early still
The dew not fall’n, the wind not chill;
Listening ever, but not catching
The customary cry,
“Come buy, come buy,”
With its iterated jingle
Of sugar-baited words:
Not for all her watching
Once discerning even one goblin
Racing, whisking, tumbling, hobbling;
Let alone the herds
That used to tramp along the glen,
In groups or single,
Of brisk fruit-merchant men.

41. Till Lizzie urged, “O Laura, come;
I hear the fruit-call but I dare not look:
You should not loiter longer at this brook:
Come with me home.
The stars rise, the moon bends her arc,
Each glowworm winks her spark,
Let us get home before the night grows dark:
For clouds may gather
Though this is summer weather,
Put out the lights and drench us through;
Then if we lost our way what should we do?”

42. Laura turn’d cold as stone
To find her sister heard that cry alone,
That goblin cry,
“Come buy our fruits, come buy.”
Must she then buy no more such dainty fruit?
Must she no more such succous pasture find,
Gone deaf and blind?
Her tree of life droop’d from the root:
She said not one word in her heart’s sore ache;
But peering thro’ the dimness, nought discerning,
Trudg’d home, her pitcher dripping all the way;
So crept to bed, and lay
Silent till Lizzie slept;
Then sat up in a passionate yearning,
And gnash’d her teeth for baulk’d desire, and wept
As if her heart would break.

43. Day after day, night after night,
Laura kept watch in vain
In sullen silence of exceeding pain.
She never caught again the goblin cry:
“Come buy, come buy;”—
She never spied the goblin men
Hawking their fruits along the glen:
But when the noon wax’d bright
Her hair grew thin and grey;
She dwindled, as the fair full moon doth turn
To swift decay and burn
Her fire away.

44. One day remembering her kernel-stone
She set it by a wall that faced the south;
Dew’d it with tears, hoped for a root,
Watch’d for a waxing shoot,
But there came none;
It never saw the sun,
It never felt the trickling moisture run:
While with sunk eyes and faded mouth
She dream’d of melons, as a traveller sees
False waves in desert drouth
With shade of leaf-crown’d trees,
And burns the thirstier in the sandful breeze.

45. She no more swept the house,
Tended the fowls or cows,
Fetch’d honey, kneaded cakes of wheat,
Brought water from the brook:
But sat down listless in the chimney-nook
And would not eat.

46. Tender Lizzie could not bear
To watch her sister’s cankerous care
Yet not to share.
She night and morning
Caught the goblins’ cry:
“Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy;”—
Beside the brook, along the glen,
She heard the tramp of goblin men,
The yoke and stir
Poor Laura could not hear;
Long’d to buy fruit to comfort her,
But fear’d to pay too dear.
She thought of Jeanie in her grave,
Who should have been a bride;
But who for joys brides hope to have
Fell sick and died
In her gay prime,
In earliest winter time
With the first glazing rime,
With the first snow-fall of crisp winter time.

47. In her gay prime,
In earliest winter time
With the first glazing rime,
With the first snow-fall of crisp winter time.
Till Laura dwindling
Seem’d knocking at Death’s door:
Then Lizzie weigh’d no more
Better and worse;
But put a silver penny in her purse,
Kiss’d Laura, cross’d the heath with clumps of furze
At twilight, halted by the brook:
And for the first time in her life
Began to listen and look.

48. Laugh’d every goblin
When they spied her peeping:
Came towards her hobbling,
Flying, running, leaping,
Puffing and blowing,
Chuckling, clapping, crowing,
Clucking and gobbling,
Mopping and mowing,
Full of airs and graces,
Pulling wry faces,
Demure grimaces,
Cat-like and rat-like,
Ratel- and wombat-like,
Snail-paced in a hurry,
Parrot-voiced and whistler,
Helter skelter, hurry skurry,
Chattering like magpies,
Fluttering like pigeons,
Gliding like fishes,—
Hugg’d her and kiss’d her:
Squeez’d and caress’d her:
Stretch’d up their dishes,
Panniers, and plates:
“Look at our apples
Russet and dun,
Bob at our cherries,
Bite at our peaches,
Citrons and dates,
Grapes for the asking,
Pears red with basking
Out in the sun,
Plums on their twigs;
Pluck them and suck them,
Pomegranates, figs.”—

49. Chattering like magpies,
Fluttering like pigeons,
Gliding like fishes,—
Hugg’d her and kiss’d her:
Squeez’d and caress’d her:
Stretch’d up their dishes,
Panniers, and plates:
“Look at our apples
Russet and dun,
Bob at our cherries,
Bite at our peaches,
Citrons and dates,
Grapes for the asking,
Pears red with basking
Out in the sun,
Plums on their twigs;
Pluck them and suck them,
Pomegranates, figs.”—

50. “Good folk,” said Lizzie,
Mindful of Jeanie:
“Give me much and many: —
Held out her apron,
Toss’d them her penny.
“Nay, take a seat with us,
Honour and eat with us,”
They answer’d grinning:
“Our feast is but beginning.
Night yet is early,
Warm and dew-pearly,
Wakeful and starry:
Such fruits as these
No man can carry:
Half their bloom would fly,
Half their dew would dry,
Half their flavour would pass by.
Sit down and feast with us,
Be welcome guest with us,
Cheer you and rest with us.”—
“Thank you,” said Lizzie: “But one waits
At home alone for me:
So without further parleying,
If you will not sell me any
Of your fruits though much and many,
Give me back my silver penny
I toss’d you for a fee.”—
They began to scratch their pates,
No longer wagging, purring,
But visibly demurring,
Grunting and snarling.
One call’d her proud,
Cross-grain’d, uncivil;
Their tones wax’d loud,
Their looks were evil.
Lashing their tails
They trod and hustled her,
Elbow’d and jostled her,
Claw’d with their nails,
Barking, mewing, hissing, mocking,
Tore her gown and soil’d her stocking,
Twitch’d her hair out by the roots,
Stamp’d upon her tender feet,
Held her hands and squeez’d their fruits
Against her mouth to make her eat.

51. Sit down and feast with us,
Be welcome guest with us,
Cheer you and rest with us.”—
“Thank you,” said Lizzie: “But one waits
At home alone for me:
So without further parleying,
If you will not sell me any
Of your fruits though much and many,
Give me back my silver penny
I toss’d you for a fee.”—
They began to scratch their pates,
No longer wagging, purring,
But visibly demurring,
Grunting and snarling.
One call’d her proud,
Cross-grain’d, uncivil;
Their tones wax’d loud,
Their looks were evil.
Lashing their tails
They trod and hustled her,
Elbow’d and jostled her,
Claw’d with their nails,
Barking, mewing, hissing, mocking,
Tore her gown and soil’d her stocking,
Twitch’d her hair out by the roots,
Stamp’d upon her tender feet,
Held her hands and squeez’d their fruits
Against her mouth to make her eat.

52. Their looks were evil.
Lashing their tails
They trod and hustled her,
Elbow’d and jostled her,
Claw’d with their nails,
Barking, mewing, hissing, mocking,
Tore her gown and soil’d her stocking,
Twitch’d her hair out by the roots,
Stamp’d upon her tender feet,
Held her hands and squeez’d their fruits
Against her mouth to make her eat.

53. White and golden Lizzie stood,
Like a lily in a flood,—
Like a rock of blue-vein’d stone
Lash’d by tides obstreperously,—
Like a beacon left alone
In a hoary roaring sea,
Sending up a golden fire,—
Like a fruit-crown’d orange-tree
White with blossoms honey-sweet
Sore beset by wasp and bee,—
Like a royal virgin town
Topp’d with gilded dome and spire
Close beleaguer’d by a fleet
Mad to tug her standard down.

54. One may lead a horse to water,
Twenty cannot make him drink.
Though the goblins cuff’d and caught her,
Coax’d and fought her,
Bullied and besought her,
Scratch’d her, pinch’d her black as ink,
Kick’d and knock’d her,
Maul’d and mock’d her,
Lizzie utter’d not a word;
Would not open lip from lip
Lest they should cram a mouthful in:
But laugh’d in heart to feel the drip
Of juice that syrupp’d all her face,
And lodg’d in dimples of her chin,
And streak’d her neck which quaked like curd.
At last the evil people,
Worn out by her resistance,
Flung back her penny, kick’d their fruit
Along whichever road they took,
Not leaving root or stone or shoot;
Some writh’d into the ground,
Some div’d into the brook
With ring and ripple,
Some scudded on the gale without a sound,
Some vanish’d in the distance.

55. Flung back her penny, kick’d their fruit
Along whichever road they took,
Not leaving root or stone or shoot;
Some writh’d into the ground,
Some div’d into the brook
With ring and ripple,
Some scudded on the gale without a sound,
Some vanish’d in the distance.

56. In a smart, ache, tingle,
Lizzie went her way;
Knew not was it night or day;
Sprang up the bank, tore thro’ the furze,
Threaded copse and dingle,
And heard her penny jingle
Bouncing in her purse,—
Its bounce was music to her ear.
She ran and ran
As if she fear’d some goblin man
Dogg’d her with gibe or curse
Or something worse:
But not one goblin scurried after,
Nor was she prick’d by fear;
The kind heart made her windy-paced
That urged her home quite out of breath with haste
And inward laughter.

57. She cried, “Laura,” up the garden,
“Did you miss me?
Come and kiss me.
Never mind my bruises,
Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices
Squeez’d from goblin fruits for you,
Goblin pulp and goblin dew.
Eat me, drink me, love me;
Laura, make much of me;
For your sake I have braved the glen
And had to do with goblin merchant men.”

58. Laura started from her chair,
Flung her arms up in the air,
Clutch’d her hair:
“Lizzie, Lizzie, have you tasted
For my sake the fruit forbidden?
Must your light like mine be hidden,
Your young life like mine be wasted,
Undone in mine undoing,
And ruin’d in my ruin,
Thirsty, canker’d, goblin-ridden?”—
She clung about her sister,
Kiss’d and kiss’d and kiss’d her:
Tears once again
Refresh’d her shrunken eyes,
Dropping like rain
After long sultry drouth;
Shaking with aguish fear, and pain,
She kiss’d and kiss’d her with a hungry mouth.

59. Her lips began to scorch,
That juice was wormwood to her tongue,
She loath’d the feast:
Writhing as one possess’d she leap’d and sung,
Rent all her robe, and wrung
Her hands in lamentable haste,
And beat her breast.
Her locks stream’d like the torch
Borne by a racer at full speed,
Or like the mane of horses in their flight,
Or like an eagle when she stems the light
Straight toward the sun,
Or like a caged thing freed,
Or like a flying flag when armies run.

60. Swift fire spread through her veins, knock’d at her heart,
Met the fire smouldering there
And overbore its lesser flame;
She gorged on bitterness without a name:
Ah! fool, to choose such part
Of soul-consuming care!
Sense fail’d in the mortal strife:
Like the watch-tower of a town
Which an earthquake shatters down,
Like a lightning-stricken mast,
Like a wind-uprooted tree
Spun about,
Like a foam-topp’d waterspout
Cast down headlong in the sea,
She fell at last;
Pleasure past and anguish past,
Is it death or is it life?

61. Life out of death.
That night long Lizzie watch’d by her,
Counted her pulse’s flagging stir,
Felt for her breath,
Held water to her lips, and cool’d her face
With tears and fanning leaves:
But when the first birds chirp’d about their eaves,
And early reapers plodded to the place
Of golden sheaves,
And dew-wet grass
Bow’d in the morning winds so brisk to pass,
And new buds with new day
Open’d of cup-like lilies on the stream,
Laura awoke as from a dream,
Laugh’d in the innocent old way,
Hugg’d Lizzie but not twice or thrice;
Her gleaming locks show’d not one thread of grey,
Her breath was sweet as May
And light danced in her eyes.

62. Days, weeks, months, years
Afterwards, when both were wives
With children of their own;
Their mother-hearts beset with fears,
Their lives bound up in tender lives;
Laura would call the little ones
And tell them of her early prime,
Those pleasant days long gone
Of not-returning time:
Would talk about the haunted glen,
The wicked, quaint fruit-merchant men,
Their fruits like honey to the throat
But poison in the blood;
(Men sell not such in any town):
Would tell them how her sister stood
In deadly peril to do her good,

63. And win the fiery antidote:
Then joining hands to little hands
Would bid them cling together,
“For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands.”

64. Illustrations by D.G. Rossetti

65. Critics
More on Christina Rossetti and feminism: The Oxford English Dictionary defines feminism as ‘the advocacy of the rights of women'. Although Rossetti was not generally perceived as a feminist in her own day, the term feminist has been applied to her by various critics. They wish to establish her involvement with the re-writing of tradition, in an attempt to include women where they had been previously excluded. Certainly, Rossetti's writings promote the belief that women are of equal value to men, but that the two genders cannot be confused.

66. Homework
Write a critical analysis (750+ words) of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market focusing on ONE of the following elements:
The market, economy and consumerism
Typological Symbolism (religious imagery)
Addiction
Sex
Feminism and Sisterhood
Use at least one of the articles on Moodle (critics) and do not forget context.