Dante
Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Helen of
Heavenborn
Helen,
(O
Had two breasts of heavenly sheen,
The sun and
moon of the heart's desire:
All Love's lordship lay between. 5
(O
Tall
Helen
knelt at Venus' shrine,
(O
Saying, 'A little gift is mine, 10
A little gift
for a heart's desire.
Hear me speak and make me a sign!
(O
Troy's down,
Tall
'Look, I
bring thee a carven cup; 15
(O
See it here as I hold it up, --
Shaped it is to the heart's desire,
Fit to fill when the gods would sup.
(O
Troy's down, 20
Tall
'It was
moulded like my breast;
(O
He that sees it may not rest,
Rest at all for his heart's desire. 25
O give ear to
my heart's behest!
(O
Troy's down,
Tall
'See my
breast, how like it is;
(O
See it bare for the air to kiss!
Is the cup to thy heart's desire?
O for the breast, O make it his!
(O
Troy's down,
Tall
'Yea, for
my bosom here I sue;
(O
Thou must give it where 'tis due,
Give it there to the heart's desire.
Whom do I give my bosom to? 40
(O
Tall
'Each
twin breast is an apple sweet.
(O
Once an apple stirred the beat 45
Of thy heart
with the heart's desire: --
Say, who brought it then to thy feet?
(O
Troy's down,
Tall
'They
that claimed it then were three: 50
(O
For thy sake two hearts did he
Make forlorn of
the heart's desire.
Do for him as he did for thee!
(O
Troy's down, 55
Tall
'Mine are
apples grown to the south,
(O
Grown to taste in the days of drouth,
Taste and waste to the heart's desire: 60
Mine are apples meet for his mouth.Õ
(O
Tall
Venus
looked on Helen's gift,
(O
Looked and smiled with subtle drift,
Saw the work of her heart's desire: --
'There thou kneel'st
for Love to lift!Õ
(O
Tall
Venus
looked in Helen's face,
(O
Knew far off an hour and place,
And fire lit from the heart's desire;
Laughed and said, 'Thy gift hath grace!Õ 75
(O Troy's down,
Tall
Cupid
looked on Helen's breast,
(O
Saw the heart within its nest, 80
Saw the flame of the heart's desire, --
Marked his arrow's burning crest.
(O
Troy's down,
Tall
Cupid
took another dart, 85
(O
Fledged it for another heart,
Winged the shaft with the heart's
desire,
Drew the string and said, 'Depart!Õ
(O
Troy's down, 90
Tall
(O
Turned upon his bed and said,
Dead at heart with the heart's desire,
-- 95
'Oh to clasp her golden head!Õ
(O
Tall
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dgr/7.html
Fourteen stanzas compose this
poem, with seven verses in each one, but it is important to remark that three
of these seven lines (these lines are between parentheses) are repeated in every
stanza during the whole poem, so the stanzas are quatrains helped by three
repeated verses that give a message of action and rapidity to the poem. The
rhyme of the quatrains is aaba.
In this poem, Dante Gabriel Rossetti talks about Helen, the queen of
In the first stanza we find a
description of the beauty of Helen, while in the second and third stanzas we
have Helen speaking to Venus and bringing a cup, which is the offer that the
queen donates to the goddess for her desire to be fulfilled.
In the next three stanzas we
see Helen speaking to Venus and explaining that the cup is the symbol of
herself, and she offers it to Venus as well as she wants to give her breast to
her beloved. In the seventh stanza Helen compares her breasts to two apples and
in line 61 she says that they were grown up for his mouth, for
Later on in the poem Venus
accepts the gift and sends Cupid to shoot a dart to
The
lines that are repeated in every stanza [2nd line (O Troy Town!),
5th and 6th lines (O Troy's down, Tall Troy's on
fire!)], give the reader the image that Troy is in flames, and give the
poem an impression of rapidity and that everything is happening frenetically,
as far as it let us know that Helen is much more implied trying to accomplish
her desire than taking care of the actual situation of the city. Instead of
using the standard quatrain, Rossetti uses this
technique to give the reader that impression.
So, there are two stories that
are taking place at the same time and that finally converge in the reader’s mind. We must consider that
Examining
On the other hand, what we can see in the picture (that in
a way paints the poem) is Helen in the first plane and the city of
She is carrying a necklace that she is showing to us. It
has the symbol of a Torch, so we can ask ourselves if she has been the author
of the burning of
The colours used by Dante Gabriel Rossetti gives the painting a wonderful and an
impressive environment. Through the use of these colours we can see the burning
of the city and its symbolism clearly. All the red and orange tones used by Rossetti in Helen’s
hair and also in the flames that come from
Helen is wearing an orange blouse, so she can be an
unnoticed character between the flames that are burning.
Sources:
- George P. Landow;
Typological Structures; The Victorian
Web; http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/type/ch6b.html
- troy