Painting: The Blessed Damozel by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
The Blessed Damozel by Dante
Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
1 The blessed damozel
lean'd out
2 From the gold bar of Heaven;
3 Her eyes were
deeper than the depth
4 Of waters still'd
at even;
5 She had three lilies in her
hand,
6 And the stars in her hair were seven.
7 Her robe, ungirt from clasp to hem,
8 No wrought flowers did adorn,
9 But a white rose of
Mary's gift,
10 For
service meetly worn;
11 Her hair that lay along her back
12 Was
yellow like ripe corn.
13 Her seem'd she scarce had been a day
14 One
of God's choristers;
15 The wonder was not yet quite gone
16 From
that still look of hers;
17 Albeit, to them she left, her day
18 Had
counted as ten years.
19 (To one, it is ten years of years.
20 .
. . Yet now, and in this place,
21 Surely she lean'd o'er me--her hair
22 Fell
all about my face ....
23 Nothing: the autumn-fall of leaves.
24 The
whole year sets apace.)
25 It was the rampart of God's house
26 That
she was standing on;
27 By God built over the sheer depth
28 The
which is Space begun;
29 So high, that looking downward
thence
30 She
scarce could see the sun.
31 It lies in Heaven, across the flood
32 Of
ether, as a bridge.
33 Beneath, the tides of day and night
34 With
flame and darkness ridge
35 The void, as low as where this earth
36 Spins
like a fretful midge.
37 Around her, lovers, newly
met
38 'Mid
deathless love's acclaims,
39 Spoke evermore among themselves
40 Their
heart-remember'd names;
41 And the souls mounting up to God
42 Went
by her like thin flames.
43 And still she bow'd
herself and stoop'd
44 Out
of the circling charm;
45 Until her bosom must have made
46 The
bar she lean'd on warm,
47 And the lilies lay as if asleep
48 Along
her bended arm.
49 From the fix'd
place of Heaven she saw
50 Time
like a pulse shake fierce
51 Through all the worlds. Her gaze
still strove
52 Within
the gulf to pierce
53 Its path; and now she spoke as when
54 The
stars sang in their spheres.
55 The sun was gone now; the curl'd moon
56 Was
like a little feather
57 Fluttering far down the gulf; and
now
58 She
spoke through the still weather.
59 Her voice was like the voice the
stars
60 Had
when they sang together.
61 (Ah
sweet! Even now, in that bird's song,
62 Strove
not her accents there,
63 Fain to be hearken'd?
When those bells
64 Possess'd the mid-day air,
65 Strove not her steps to reach my
side
66 Down
all the echoing stair?)
67 "I wish that he were come to
me,
68 For
he will come," she said.
69 "Have I not pray'd
in Heaven?--on earth,
70 Lord,
Lord, has he not pray'd?
71 Are not two prayers a perfect
strength?
72 And
shall I feel afraid?
73 "When round his head the
aureole clings,
74 And
he is cloth'd in white,
75 I'll take his hand and go with him
76 To
the deep wells of light;
77 As unto a stream we will step down,
78 And
bathe there in God's sight.
79 "We two will
stand beside that shrine,
80 Occult,
withheld, untrod,
81 Whose lamps are stirr'd
continually
82 With
prayer sent up to God;
83 And see our old prayers, granted,
melt
84 Each
like a little cloud.
85 "We two will lie i' the shadow of
86 That living mystic tree
87 Within whose secret growth the Dove
88 Is sometimes felt
to be,
89 While every leaf that His plumes
touch
90 Saith His Name audibly.
91 "And I myself will teach to
him,
92
I myself, lying so,
93 The songs I sing here; which his
voice
94 Shall
pause in, hush'd and slow,
95 And find some knowledge at each pause,
96 Or some new thing to know."
97 (Alas! We two, we two,
thou say'st!
98 Yea,
one wast thou with me
99 That once of old. But shall God lift
100 To
endless unity
101 The soul whose likeness with thy
soul
102 Was
but its love for thee?)
103 "We two," she said,
"will seek the groves
104 Where
the lady Mary is,
105 With her five handmaidens, whose
names
106 Are
five sweet symphonies,
107 Cecily, Gertrude, Magdalen,
108 Margaret
and Rosalys.
109 "Circlewise
sit they, with bound locks
110 And
foreheads garlanded;
111 Into the fine cloth white like flame
112 Weaving
the golden thread,
113 To fashion the birth-robes for them
114 Who
are just born, being dead.
115 "He shall fear, haply, and be
dumb:
116 Then
will I lay my cheek
117 To his, and tell about our love,
118 Not
once abash'd or weak:
119 And the dear Mother will approve
120 My
pride, and let me speak.
121 "Herself shall bring us, hand in hand,
122 To
Him round whom all souls
123 Kneel, the clear-rang'd
unnumber'd heads
124 Bow'd with their aureoles:
125 And angels meeting us shall sing
126 To
their citherns and citoles.
127 "There will I ask of Christ the
Lord
128 Thus
much for him and me:--
129 Only to live as once on earth
130
With Love,--only to be,
131 As then awhile, for ever now
132 Together, I and
he."
133 She gaz'd
and listen'd and then said,
134 Less
sad of speech than mild,--
135 "All this is when he
comes." She ceas'd.
136 The
light thrill'd towards her, fill'd
137 With angels in strong level flight.
138 Her
eyes pray'd, and she smil'd.
139 (I saw her smile.) But soon their
path
140 Was
vague in distant spheres:
141 And then she cast her arms along
142 The
golden barriers,
143 And laid her face between her hands,
144 And
wept. (I heard her tears.)
(source: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1763.html)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
is one of the members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. The term Pre-Raphaelite
refers to both, art and literature. The term itself originated in relation to
the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an influential group of mid-nineteenth-century avante garde painters associated
with Ruskin who had great effect upon British, American, and European art. (victorianweb)There were two
tendencies, the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and the Aestetic
pre-raphaelism from which D.G. Rosssetti
was the founder. This second tendency makes more emphasis on poetry.(victorianweb)
This essay will compare two works by Rossetti, “ The Blessed Damozel”
which was first the title of a poem and years later it also became the title of
one of his best paintings.
The poem is composed by 24 stanzas of 5 lines
each and its rhyme scheme is abbcdb.
The first stanza presents the setting. “The
Blessed Damozel” is in Heaven, however, as we observe
in the painting as well, she seems worried about something as she is leaning
out from the gold bar of Heaven. She has three lilies in her hand which have
connotations of purity. It can be also understood as the purity of her love. The
image of his beloved in the painting, placed just below her, on earth, confirms
what we suppose by reading the poem, in other words, we see that her love is away
from her, even more, in a different sphere.
The dress that the Blessed Damozel
is wearing is not adorned by flowers but by a white rose of Mary’s gift, symbol
of purity. In these two first stanzas there is also imagery of richness “the
gold bar of Heaven” and “yellow like ripe corn”. This second metaphor connotes
health as well, in my opinion, because her hair is blonde, yellow like gold is.
She still seems to be wondering why is she is there “The wonder was not yet quite gone/ From that still look of hers;” (line 16). A day for her
in Heaven counts as ten years as she feels alone. “Albeit, to them she left, her day/ had counted as ten years” (line
18)-.
It is in the fourth stanza when we can observe
how her love is thinking of her as much as she does. He is imaging what she was
doing; it is as if he was contemplating her as well. “surely she lean’d
o’er me – her hair / Fell all about my face..” (lines
21-22). In the painting we observe her lover, lied down on the forest and
looking at the sky, just below his picture we find the Blessed Damozel in Heaven. Both are separated by a sacred barrier composed
by three angels as we can see in the painting. Indeed the painting is divided
into two, as if there were two different paintings because both are separated
by a white line.
The seventh stanza describes couples of lovers
around “the blessed Damozel” in Heaven. Everyone is
happy because they are with their respective beloved ones whereas she yearns for
her beloved who is on earth. “Around her,
lovers, newly met/ Mid deathless love’s acclaims” (lines
37-38). This image is also represented in the painting, the couples are around
the blessed Damozel and surrounded at the same time
by red flowers, symbol of passion. The blessed Damozel
continues bowing herself towards the earth instead of being in Paradise “and still she bow’d
herself and stoop’d/ out
of the circling charm”, if we have a look at the painting, it is as if
she finds she is out of place because her beloved is not with her whereas all
the women in Heaven are accompanied by their respective beloved. In the
painting we can also observe that each one of the couples around the blessed Damozel give an impression of being a unique element as
they are so extremely close.
The Blessed Damozel
fights against time; time is her enemy as time separates her from her beloved.
She cannot see the time to meet him “ From the fix’d place of Heaven she saw/ Time like a pulse shake
fierce.” (lines 49-50). As we can observe in the
painting instead of being in Heaven, paradise, the most wonderful place, the
anguish is reflected in the Blessed Damozel’s face because
she needs the arrival of her beloved. That is the reason why in the poem it is
found this fighting with time.
She feels devastated as she is not with her
beloved, the happiness, represented in the poem by the sun has gone away “the sun was gone now: the curl’d moon / was like a little feather” (lines 55-56).
However her love for him goes beyond the barrier of death as her beloved seems
to hear her prays “Ah sweet! Even now, in
that bird’s song, strove not her accents there”. In the painting her beloved
is lying down looking at the sky with a lost gaze. He seems to be looking at
the blessed Damozel in his mind.
The blessed Damozel
says she wishes him to go with her to Heaven, and asks God if they haven’t
prayed enough to be together (lines 67-72). The painting is a representation of
the poem, however the poem can express deeper thoughts as we can read what the Damozel is thinking which confirms our intuitions. It is
from this point in the poem that the Damozel imagines
the day her beloved will join her in Heaven “When
round his head the aureole clings, and he is cloth’d
in white...” (lines 73-74). In stanzas fourteenth,
fifteenth and seventeenth there is a repetition to emphasise they will be
together and what they will do together in Heaven “We two will stand beside that shrine” (line 79), “ we two will lie I’ the shadow of that
living mystic tree” (line 86) “ we
two will seek the goves/ where the lady Mary is” (line
103). They both feel they complement each other and they are not fulfilled
until they stayed eternally together in Heaven. Both seem to see each other
instead of being in separate worlds physically as he said he heard her singing
and now she is talking about laying both in a mystic tree as he is in that
moment but on the earth.
Until line 132 She is dreaming awake about his
arrival to Heaven and she plans to teach him how life is there, to console him
if he is fear “he shall fear, haply, and
be dumb:/ then will I lay my cheek / to his, and tell
about our love”(lines 115-117). However suddenly she faces the cruel
reality, he is not yet there “all this is when he comes” (line 135”. then she
smiles and in the end she cries as their
path was vague in distant spheres but he saw her smile and heard her tears.
To sum up, the hard separation of these two
lovers because of the death of the Damozel is
perfectly captured in both, the poem and the painting. They are addressed as a
unique soul divided into two, one half is in Heaven
and the other one on earth. It gives us that impression because instead of
their separation they seem to be linked as he seems to hear her
prayers “Ah sweet! Even now, in that bird’s
song, strove not her accents there” and she seems to be looking at him “we two will lie I’ the shadow of that
living mystic tree” (line 86 ).What calls more the
attention about both masterpieces is the fact that the separation because of
death is taking the perspective of the death and not the other way around
as it is usually addressed this topic.
Sources:
·
http://www.batleby.com/223/0502.html.
(not found).23-05-2006
·
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1763.html.
RPO Editors,
Department of English, and
University of Toronto Press
1994-2002 RPO is hosted by the University of
Toronto Libraries.23-05-2006
·
http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/crit.97/PRwomen/Damosel.htm
Jerome J. McGann.
·
http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/painting/prb/kashtan12.html.
Aaron Kashtan. 23-05-2006
Academic
year 2005/2006
a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
©Lorena Ramos Jiménez
Universitat de València Press
loraji@alumni.uv.es