MARY’S GIRLHOOD
I.
This
is that blessed Mary, pre-elect,
God's Virgin. Gone is a great while,
and she
Dwelt young in Nazareth of Galilee.
Unto God's will she brought devout respect,
Profound simplicity of intellect,
And supreme patience. From her mother's knee
Faithful and hopeful; wise in charity;
Strong in grave peace; in pity circumspect.
So
held she through her girlhood; as it were
An angel-watered lily, that near God
Grows and is quiet. Till, one dawn at home,
She woke in her white bed, and had no fear
At all,--yet wept till sunshine, and felt
awed;
Because the fulness of the time was come.
II.
These
are the symbols. On that cloth of red
I' the centre is the Tripoint:
perfect each,
Except the centre of its points,to
teach
That Christ is not yet born. The books --whose head
Is golden Charity, as Paul hath said--
Those virtues are wherein the soul is rich;
Therefore on them the lily standeth,
which
Is innocence, being interpreted.
The
seven-thorn'd brier and palm seven-leaved
Are here great sorrow and her great reward
Until the end be full, the Holy One
Abides without. She soon shall have achieved
Her perfect purity: yea, God the Lord
Shall soon vouchsafe
His Son to be her Son.
Poem
Source: <(http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dgr/1.html)>
Picture
Source: <(http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/dgr/paintings/3.html)>
The
poem and painting I am going to compare are “Mary’s Girlhood” and the painting
“The girlhood of Mary Virgin” both by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
The poem was published in 1849 accompanying to his painting. In
this case, the painting can be considered as the representation of the
poem itself.
The
main theme of the poem and picture deals (as its name indicates) about
the girlhood of a girl, the girlhood of Mary Virgin. The poem narrates
a moment in the life of Christ mother when she was a child.
Rossetti
was a member of the famous Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. This brotherhood
has a simple ideal, the simplicity of the pictures were the principal model
to Pre-Raphaelites but above all to Rossetti.
The example of Christianity was used by Rossetti
as a model for secular world and for an aesthetic procedure. The object
was not to reinvigorate the cult or ideas of Christianity but to learn
the fundamental need for a devotional approach to artistic poetic work.
<(URL:
http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prg/kashtan12.html)>
Mary’s
girlhood is composed by two sonnets, each sonnet has 14 lines and each
line has 10 syllables except line 11 with 9 syllables and line 13 with
11 syllables. In the second sonnet line 2 has 11 syllables and the same
syllables in line 8. These sonnets rhyme a-b-b-a.
This
poem is full of images, most of them are
Christian images. Firstly we can see images which represent the purity
and beauty which Virgin is characterized. For example; in lines 5-6 “profound
simplicity of intellect and supreme patience…”,
line 7 “faithful and hopeful; wise in charity” etc.
The
first Christian element in the poem is in line 1 “blessed Mary”, a girl
who is called Mary has been blessed by God. In line 2 Rossetti
uses first time the word “Virgin” which in Christian symbolism represents
the purest person who God chose to be the mother of his son. In line 3
the poet makes reference to the place where Christ was born “Natharet
of Galilee”. In line 6 Rossetti mentions
Mary’s mother “
In
the second sonnet in line 4 the author continued referencing to religion,
“Christ is not yet born”. The author gives us a clue with future facts
in the history of Christ. In line 5 the author names a disciple of Christ
“Paul” (one of the 12 disciples of Christ
who wrote the Bible). In lines
The
painting “The girlhood of Mary Virgin”
is a faithful reproduction of the poem itself. In the painting I think
that we can observe more elements and more figures than in a poem because
for example in Rossetti’s picture there
are more details that are related to the main theme and that they are also
related with the story that the author wants telling us. But I also think
that in the poem the feelings and sensations are more evident than in a
picture. The first thing in the picture that is called my attention was
the predominant use of red colour; in the second sonnet Rossetti
mentions a “red cloth” (line 1) which is referred to as a red mantle that
is behind the window and it is just in the centre of the picture. In line
5 in the first sonnet the author talks about “intellect” and in the picture
the Virgin is next to so many books. In line 6 the author names her mother
who appears weaving a red mantle. In line 10 Rossetti
an “angel-watered lily” to represent the white lily which in the picture
is in the books and which interprets the innocence of the Virgin. In the
second in lines 4-5 Rossetti talks again
about “Sacred Books” (Bible) which are the Books on which the Virgin leans.
According
to the scene in the picture in line 2 the author talks about a “tripoint”
because the picture is divided in three parts; the part of the Virgin at
the left, the part of the women weaving at right and the part of the father
in the centre of the picture but this part is background because the author
does not give the importance of the rest of the picture. Also in the background
scene there is a white dove (symbol of the peace around the world). The
last lines refer to the God’s Son who is not born yet and the Virgin is
still a girl but she will be soon prepared to give life to her son.
I
think that the poem and the
painting are two splendid and beautiful representations of the girlhood
of Mary Virgin. In my opinion Rossetti in
the painting has expressed very well the religious images and he known
how to draw a very insignificant and also an important thing as the childhood
of Mary’s Virgin. As I have said before I consider that we can read a story
in a painting better than in a poem.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Dante
Gabriel Rossetti’s « Mary’s Girlhood
», www.victorianweb.org,
Ed, Geroge P. Landow,
last visited 14th August 2006, <(URL:http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prg/kashtan12.html)>
Poem
Source: <(http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dgr/1.html)>
Picture
Source: <(http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/dgr/paintings/3.html)>