Echo

'Echo': Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti was a 19th-century English poet known for her lyrical and often melancholy verse. Born in London in 1830, Rossetti began writing poetry at a young age and published her first collection, Goblin Market and Other Poems, in 1862.

Fig. 1 - Christina Rossetti is a celebrated poet who wrote 'Echo' in the 19th century.

Christina Rossetti's familial and financial situation took a drastic turn when she was a teenager. Her father's health deteriorated significantly and he became chronically ill. Since he was no longer able to work, the family struggled to make ends meet. This led to Christina Rossetti falling into a state of depression and great emotional turmoil. She turned towards religion to find solace.

The poem 'Echo' is a sextilla from the Spanish tradition of poetry. In the poem, the speaker seemingly addresses herself and her memory of the past. The introspective melancholy that Rossetti experienced in her life during this tumultuous period is reflected in the tone of the poem.

'Echo' is written in Rossetti's characteristic style, which is marked by careful attention to language and a strong sense of emotional depth. In 'Echo,' Rossetti uses repetition and vivid imagery to explore the themes of identity, perception, and mortality that are so often present in her work.

'Echo': poem analysis

For an in-depth analysis of the poem, it is recommended that you read the poem 'Echo' by Christina Rossetti twice. On the first read, pay attention to every word to identify the patterns of meaning that emerge. When you read the poem the second time, 'zoom out' to consider the broad strokes of the poem such as its themes and mood.

'Echo': summary

In the poem 'Echo,' the speaker tries to recall a fading memory. By directly addressing her memories, she dreams of them and falls into a death-like slumber so that she can remain immersed in the past she desperately longs for.

'Echo': structure

The poem 'Echo' is written in the Spanish poetry tradition of a sextilla.

Through assonance, or the repetition of vowel sounds, the poet gives the impression of an 'echo.' This is also done through the heavy use of alliteration, which not only 'echoes' certain sounds but also gives a pleasing effect when the poem is read out loud. In this way, the poem seems to progress at a leisurely pace, without any tension in its lines.

'Echo': rhyme and meter

In keeping with the sextilla tradition, the rhyme scheme of the poem 'Echo' is ABABCC. While a sextilla follows the strict structure of 8 syllables per line, Rossetti juggles between four, six, eight, and ten syllabic lines to establish the tone of longing and enhance the effect of a fading memory. The meter switches between the iambic dimeter (two iambic feet), the iambic trimeter (three iambic feet), trochaic trimeter (three trochaic feet), the iambic tetrameter (four iambic feet), and the iambic pentameter (five iambic feet).

'Echo': literary and poetic devices

The main poetic devices to study in Christina Rossetti's 'Echo' are alliteration, anaphora, personification, simile, and synecdoche.

'Echo': alliteration

The phrase 'speaking silence of a dream' repeats the 's' sound, giving the impression as if she is whispering into the silence. Can you spot other instances of alliteration in the poem? What effect do these have on the reader? (Hint: Check lines 4, 9, 17, and 18)

'Echo': anaphora

In the first stanza of the poem, the word 'come' is repeated, hinting at the repressed eagerness of the speaker as they invite the memory, and with it hope and love, to come to them. The second stanza makes repeated use of the word 'where' to convey the speaker's confusion and loss. Repetition in the poem 'Echo' is particularly important to lend the poem the feeling of echoing in the minds of the readers.

'Echo': personification

In the poem, Christina Rossetti directly addresses a memory from the past by using the second person pronoun 'you.' She personifies the memory and invites it to her, and wishes for it to come to her with 'soft rounded cheeks' and bright eyes.

'Echo': simile

In the poem, the speaker bids the fading memory to come to her with bright eyes 'As sunlight on a stream' (Line 4). She compares the 'eyes' of the memory to sunlight, indicating not only that they are bright, but also intense. It gives the reader the impression that the memory she is trying to recall is of great intensity and importance to the speaker.

'Echo': synecdoche

In stanza 3, the phrase 'pulse for pulse, breath for breath' indicates the body, and all that it senses and experiences.

'Echo': themes

The main themes in 'Echo' are memory and the past, and dreaming and death.

Memory and the Past

Christina Rossetti romanticizes the past in her poem 'Echo' by imbuing it with positive attributes and adopting a longing tone while inviting the memory to encapsulate her. She is willing to fall into a death-like slumber to relive the memory that means so much to her. The fading nature of the memory can be indicative of her tumultuous state of mind, wherein the memory itself may serve as an anchor for her to recall a time when she was happier.

Dreaming and Death

The link between dream and death is very strong in the poem 'Echo,' particularly when the speaker in stanza 2 claims that she awoke from her dream and returned to her life rather than waking up in paradise (afterlife). The death-like slumber to remain immersed in the memory also subtly hints at drinking a strong sleeping potion to be able to dream of the memory and thus remain in the past.