Christina Rossetti
Interpretations
by Lee Magness
A Prodigal Son
by Christina Rossetti
Does that lamp still burn in my Father's house,
Which he kindled the night I went away?
I turned once beneath the cedar boughs,
And marked it gleam with a golden ray;
Did he think to light me home some day?
Hungry here with the crunching swine,
Hungry harvest have I to reap;
In a dream I count my Father's kine,
I hear the tinkling bells of his sheep,
I watch his lambs that browse and leap.
There is plenty of bread at home,
His servants have bread enough and to spare;
The purple wine-fat froths with foam,
Oil and spices make sweet the air,
While I perish hungry and bare.
Rich and blessed those servants, rather
Than I who see not my Father's face!
I will arise and go to my Father:--
"Fallen from sonship, beggared of grace,
Grant me, Father, a servant's place."
by Christina Rossetti
Does that lamp still burn in my Father's house,
Which he kindled the night I went away?
I turned once beneath the cedar boughs,
And marked it gleam with a golden ray;
Did he think to light me home some day?
Hungry here with the crunching swine,
Hungry harvest have I to reap;
In a dream I count my Father's kine,
I hear the tinkling bells of his sheep,
I watch his lambs that browse and leap.
There is plenty of bread at home,
His servants have bread enough and to spare;
The purple wine-fat froths with foam,
Oil and spices make sweet the air,
While I perish hungry and bare.
Rich and blessed those servants, rather
Than I who see not my Father's face!
I will arise and go to my Father:--
"Fallen from sonship, beggared of grace,
Grant me, Father, a servant's place."
Answers
1) From whose perspective is the story in the poem told?
The narrator of the poem is the younger son, the prodigal. It is his memory of his day of departure, his experience of "crunching hunger" among the animals in the far country, his awareness of the plenty in his father's house, and his resolve to return home, that we share as the readers.
2) At what point in Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son is this action of this poem?
The poem is positioned at the point in which the younger son has squandered his possessions, has been abandoned, has found a menial and disgusting job among farm animals, the point at which he remembers the comforts and connections of home and resolves to return to his father even in the role of a servant. (The parable actually says hired worker rather than servant.)
3) What is the dominant image in stanza 1? Stanza 2? Stanza 3?
The dominant image of stanza 1 is light, as the words "lamp," "burn," "kindled," "gleam," and "golden ray attest. In contrast to the light, the narrator has already slipped into the "night" shadows of the "cedar boughs."
Hunger is the dominant image of stanza 2. Normally the farm is a source of sustenance. The harvest is ready for the reaping. Even in the famine of the far country the pigs have something to eat. Back home he can only imagine the numerous cattle, the grazing sheep, and the frolicking lambs.
Food imagery in stanza 3 contrasts with the hunger theme of stanza 2. At home there is bread, enough bread, plenty of bread, bread to spare. Fresh wine overflows the vats. Oil and spices flavor the very air they breath. But he is still starving.
4) What senses are appealed to in stanzas 2 and 3?
The sense of taste (hunger, bread, wine), the sense of sound (crunching, tinkling), the sense of sight (counting cattle, leaping lambs, frothing purple wine), and the sense of smell ("Oil and spices make sweet the air.") all combine to enrich the reader's experience.
5) Ultimately, what is it that the narrator really misses?
Although he does miss the sights and sounds and smells and tastes of home, stanza 4 makes it clear that what he really misses is seeing his father's face. This sight symbolizes the restoration of his relationship with his father.
6) Why are the last two lines in quotation marks?
The rest of the poem are the thoughts and memories and reveries of the younger son, but these last two lines represent the exact words he plans to say to his father upon his return.
7) How would you explain the phrase "beggared of grace"?
As a result of squandering his inheritance in riotous living in the far country and even though he has a job, he has become little better than a beggar. According to Jesus' parable, "no one gave him anything." But what he really lacks, what he really feels the need for, is neither food nor friends but grace, the mercy of the father whose inheritance he wasted and whose relationship he shattered.
8) What is the effect of the interrogative mood of stanza 1?
Although the quotation at the end of the poem--highlighting the concept of grace--is undeniably important, the question marks in stanza 1 signal the real significance of this poem and its interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The narrator imagines the father lighting a lamp to guide his return the very night of his leave-taking. He wonders if it is still lit, in other words, if the father would still welcome him home.
9) Does this poem express any part of the meaning of Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son? If so, what?
This poem seemingly explores only one facet of the parable of the Prodigal Son--the longings of the younger son in the far country. There is barely a mention of his departure and nothing of his return, his welcome by the father, and the reaction of the other brother. But the poem touches the very heart of the parable when it wonders about the actions and attitudes of the father. He has been longing for his son's return even from the moment of his removal and, in the mind of the prodigal son, longs for him still. This longing, this persistent love, this ongoing grace, is symbolized by the lamp, the light of the father's love, burning still in the window of the father's will for reconciliation with the son.
A Meditation
In Christina Rossetti's "A Prodigal Son," the narrator, the prodigal son himself, looks back on his life--his day of departure, his experience of "crunching hunger" among the animals in the far country, his awareness of the plenty in his father's house. The younger son has squandered his possessions, has been abandoned by his companions, and has found a menial and disgusting job among farm animals. But he has also recalled the comforts and connections of home and resolves to return to his father even if in the role of a servant.
The dominant literary image of stanza 1 is light, as the words "lamp," "burn," "kindled," "gleam," and "golden ray attest. In contrast to the light, the narrator has already slipped into the "night" shadows of the "cedar boughs." Hunger is the dominant image of stanza 2. Normally the farm is a source of sustenance. The harvest is ready for the reaping. Even in the famine of the far country the pigs have something to eat. Back home he can only imagine the numerous cattle, the grazing sheep, and the frolicking lambs. Food imagery in stanza 3 contrasts with the hunger theme of stanza 2. At home there is bread, enough bread, plenty of bread, bread to spare. Fresh wine overflows the vats. Oil and spices flavor the very air they breathe. But he is still starving.
Rossetti not only follows a natural but consistent rhyme scheme (ababb), she uses imagery that appeals vividly to the senses. The sense of taste (hunger, bread, wine), the sense of sound (crunching, tinkling), the sense of sight (counting cattle, leaping lambs, frothing purple wine), and the sense of smell ("Oil and spices make sweet the air.") all combine to enrich the reader's experience. Although he does miss the sights and sounds and smells and tastes of home, stanza 4 makes it clear that what he really misses is seeing his father's face. This sight symbolizes the restoration of his relationship with his father. Most of the poem contains the thoughts and memories and reveries of the younger son, but the last two lines represent the exact words he plans to say to his father upon his return. These last two lines also include the most interesting turn of phrase--"beggared of grace." As a result of squandering his inheritance in riotous living in the far country and even though he has a job, he has become little better than a beggar. According to Jesus' parable, "no one gave him anything." But what he really lacks, what he really feels the need for, is neither food nor friends but grace, the mercy of the father whose inheritance he wasted and whose relationship he shattered.
Although the quotation at the end of the poem--highlighting the concept of grace--is undeniably important, the question marks in stanza 1 signal the real significance of this poem and its interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The narrator imagines the father lighting a lamp to guide his return the very night of his leave-taking. He wonders if it is still lit, in other words, if the father would still welcome him home.
This poem seemingly explores only one facet of the parable of the Prodigal Son--the longings of the younger son in the far country. There is barely a mention of his departure and nothing of his return, his welcome by the father, and the reaction of the other brother. But the poem touches the very heart of the parable when it wonders about the actions and attitudes of the father. He has been longing for his son's return even from the moment of his removal and, in the mind of the prodigal son, longs for him still. This longing, this persistent love, this ongoing grace, is symbolized by the lamp, the light of the father's love, burning still in the window of the father's will for reconciliation with the son.
1) From whose perspective is the story in the poem told?
The narrator of the poem is the younger son, the prodigal. It is his memory of his day of departure, his experience of "crunching hunger" among the animals in the far country, his awareness of the plenty in his father's house, and his resolve to return home, that we share as the readers.
2) At what point in Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son is this action of this poem?
The poem is positioned at the point in which the younger son has squandered his possessions, has been abandoned, has found a menial and disgusting job among farm animals, the point at which he remembers the comforts and connections of home and resolves to return to his father even in the role of a servant. (The parable actually says hired worker rather than servant.)
3) What is the dominant image in stanza 1? Stanza 2? Stanza 3?
The dominant image of stanza 1 is light, as the words "lamp," "burn," "kindled," "gleam," and "golden ray attest. In contrast to the light, the narrator has already slipped into the "night" shadows of the "cedar boughs."
Hunger is the dominant image of stanza 2. Normally the farm is a source of sustenance. The harvest is ready for the reaping. Even in the famine of the far country the pigs have something to eat. Back home he can only imagine the numerous cattle, the grazing sheep, and the frolicking lambs.
Food imagery in stanza 3 contrasts with the hunger theme of stanza 2. At home there is bread, enough bread, plenty of bread, bread to spare. Fresh wine overflows the vats. Oil and spices flavor the very air they breath. But he is still starving.
4) What senses are appealed to in stanzas 2 and 3?
The sense of taste (hunger, bread, wine), the sense of sound (crunching, tinkling), the sense of sight (counting cattle, leaping lambs, frothing purple wine), and the sense of smell ("Oil and spices make sweet the air.") all combine to enrich the reader's experience.
5) Ultimately, what is it that the narrator really misses?
Although he does miss the sights and sounds and smells and tastes of home, stanza 4 makes it clear that what he really misses is seeing his father's face. This sight symbolizes the restoration of his relationship with his father.
6) Why are the last two lines in quotation marks?
The rest of the poem are the thoughts and memories and reveries of the younger son, but these last two lines represent the exact words he plans to say to his father upon his return.
7) How would you explain the phrase "beggared of grace"?
As a result of squandering his inheritance in riotous living in the far country and even though he has a job, he has become little better than a beggar. According to Jesus' parable, "no one gave him anything." But what he really lacks, what he really feels the need for, is neither food nor friends but grace, the mercy of the father whose inheritance he wasted and whose relationship he shattered.
8) What is the effect of the interrogative mood of stanza 1?
Although the quotation at the end of the poem--highlighting the concept of grace--is undeniably important, the question marks in stanza 1 signal the real significance of this poem and its interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The narrator imagines the father lighting a lamp to guide his return the very night of his leave-taking. He wonders if it is still lit, in other words, if the father would still welcome him home.
9) Does this poem express any part of the meaning of Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son? If so, what?
This poem seemingly explores only one facet of the parable of the Prodigal Son--the longings of the younger son in the far country. There is barely a mention of his departure and nothing of his return, his welcome by the father, and the reaction of the other brother. But the poem touches the very heart of the parable when it wonders about the actions and attitudes of the father. He has been longing for his son's return even from the moment of his removal and, in the mind of the prodigal son, longs for him still. This longing, this persistent love, this ongoing grace, is symbolized by the lamp, the light of the father's love, burning still in the window of the father's will for reconciliation with the son.
A Meditation
In Christina Rossetti's "A Prodigal Son," the narrator, the prodigal son himself, looks back on his life--his day of departure, his experience of "crunching hunger" among the animals in the far country, his awareness of the plenty in his father's house. The younger son has squandered his possessions, has been abandoned by his companions, and has found a menial and disgusting job among farm animals. But he has also recalled the comforts and connections of home and resolves to return to his father even if in the role of a servant.
The dominant literary image of stanza 1 is light, as the words "lamp," "burn," "kindled," "gleam," and "golden ray attest. In contrast to the light, the narrator has already slipped into the "night" shadows of the "cedar boughs." Hunger is the dominant image of stanza 2. Normally the farm is a source of sustenance. The harvest is ready for the reaping. Even in the famine of the far country the pigs have something to eat. Back home he can only imagine the numerous cattle, the grazing sheep, and the frolicking lambs. Food imagery in stanza 3 contrasts with the hunger theme of stanza 2. At home there is bread, enough bread, plenty of bread, bread to spare. Fresh wine overflows the vats. Oil and spices flavor the very air they breathe. But he is still starving.
Rossetti not only follows a natural but consistent rhyme scheme (ababb), she uses imagery that appeals vividly to the senses. The sense of taste (hunger, bread, wine), the sense of sound (crunching, tinkling), the sense of sight (counting cattle, leaping lambs, frothing purple wine), and the sense of smell ("Oil and spices make sweet the air.") all combine to enrich the reader's experience. Although he does miss the sights and sounds and smells and tastes of home, stanza 4 makes it clear that what he really misses is seeing his father's face. This sight symbolizes the restoration of his relationship with his father. Most of the poem contains the thoughts and memories and reveries of the younger son, but the last two lines represent the exact words he plans to say to his father upon his return. These last two lines also include the most interesting turn of phrase--"beggared of grace." As a result of squandering his inheritance in riotous living in the far country and even though he has a job, he has become little better than a beggar. According to Jesus' parable, "no one gave him anything." But what he really lacks, what he really feels the need for, is neither food nor friends but grace, the mercy of the father whose inheritance he wasted and whose relationship he shattered.
Although the quotation at the end of the poem--highlighting the concept of grace--is undeniably important, the question marks in stanza 1 signal the real significance of this poem and its interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The narrator imagines the father lighting a lamp to guide his return the very night of his leave-taking. He wonders if it is still lit, in other words, if the father would still welcome him home.
This poem seemingly explores only one facet of the parable of the Prodigal Son--the longings of the younger son in the far country. There is barely a mention of his departure and nothing of his return, his welcome by the father, and the reaction of the other brother. But the poem touches the very heart of the parable when it wonders about the actions and attitudes of the father. He has been longing for his son's return even from the moment of his removal and, in the mind of the prodigal son, longs for him still. This longing, this persistent love, this ongoing grace, is symbolized by the lamp, the light of the father's love, burning still in the window of the father's will for reconciliation with the son.
I Will Arise
by Christina Rossetti
Weary and weak,--accept my weariness;
Weary and weak and downcast in my soul,
With hope growing less and less,
And with the goal
Distant and dim,--accept my sore distress.
I thought to reach the goal so long ago,
At outset of the race I dreamed of rest,
Not knowing what now I know
Of breathless haste,
Of long-drawn straining effort across the waste.
One only thing I knew, Thy love of me;
One only thing I know, Thy sacred same
Love of me full and free,
A craving flame
Of selfless love of me which burns in Thee.
How can I think of thee, and yet grow chill;
Of Thee, and yet grow cold and nigh to death?
Re-energize my will,
Rebuild my faith;
I will arise and run, Thou giving me breath.
I will arise, repenting and in pain;
I will arise, and smite upon my breast
And turn to Thee again;
Thou choosest best,
Lead me along the road Thou makest plain.
Lead me a little way, and carry me
A little way, and listen to my sighs,
And store my tears with Thee,
And deign replies
To feeble prayers;--O Lord, I will arise.
by Christina Rossetti
Weary and weak,--accept my weariness;
Weary and weak and downcast in my soul,
With hope growing less and less,
And with the goal
Distant and dim,--accept my sore distress.
I thought to reach the goal so long ago,
At outset of the race I dreamed of rest,
Not knowing what now I know
Of breathless haste,
Of long-drawn straining effort across the waste.
One only thing I knew, Thy love of me;
One only thing I know, Thy sacred same
Love of me full and free,
A craving flame
Of selfless love of me which burns in Thee.
How can I think of thee, and yet grow chill;
Of Thee, and yet grow cold and nigh to death?
Re-energize my will,
Rebuild my faith;
I will arise and run, Thou giving me breath.
I will arise, repenting and in pain;
I will arise, and smite upon my breast
And turn to Thee again;
Thou choosest best,
Lead me along the road Thou makest plain.
Lead me a little way, and carry me
A little way, and listen to my sighs,
And store my tears with Thee,
And deign replies
To feeble prayers;--O Lord, I will arise.
Answers
1) From whose perspective is the story in the poem told--the prodigal son, the father, the older son?
The narrator of the poem is the younger son, the prodigal, the one who is "weary and weak" from life in the far country and resolves to repent and return to his father.
2) At what point in Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son is this action of this poem?
The narrator-son is still in the far country, experiencing the drain of his own decisions and longing for the renewal he hope will come from a reunion with his father.
3) Identify an example or two of Rossetti's powerful poetic devices--repetition and alliteration.
Repetition -- weary and weak, accept..., one only thing I knew/know, I will arise, lead...
Alliteration -- weary and weak, distant and dim, sacred same, full and free
4) What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?
a-b-a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c
5) Notice the poem's use of imperatives. Who commands whom to do what?
The son/narrator commands the father/God to renew him/her.
6 In contrast with all the other experiences the narrator has had, what is the one thing he/she "knows"?
The father's/God's persistent, selfless love
7) What is the meaning of the title and the last line?
"I will arise" is not only the title of the poem, it also appears in lines 20, 21, and 22, and in the final line. It expresses the prodigal's/poet's will to arise from the conditions of the far country and return to a relationship with the father/God.
8) What action does the narrator of the poem perform that the father actually does in the parable?
The poet/prodigal plans to arise and "run" to the father, the action that the father, surprisingly and significantly, performs in Jesus' parable.
9) Does this poem express any part of the meaning of Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son? If so, what?
Although the focus of the poem appears to be on the negative consequences of the son's life in the far country, the main emphasis is on the son's awareness of the father's persistent, selfless love. It is that love, the one thing he truly knows, not the circumstances of his distress, that draws the son back to "the craving flame."
1) From whose perspective is the story in the poem told--the prodigal son, the father, the older son?
The narrator of the poem is the younger son, the prodigal, the one who is "weary and weak" from life in the far country and resolves to repent and return to his father.
2) At what point in Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son is this action of this poem?
The narrator-son is still in the far country, experiencing the drain of his own decisions and longing for the renewal he hope will come from a reunion with his father.
3) Identify an example or two of Rossetti's powerful poetic devices--repetition and alliteration.
Repetition -- weary and weak, accept..., one only thing I knew/know, I will arise, lead...
Alliteration -- weary and weak, distant and dim, sacred same, full and free
4) What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?
a-b-a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c
5) Notice the poem's use of imperatives. Who commands whom to do what?
The son/narrator commands the father/God to renew him/her.
6 In contrast with all the other experiences the narrator has had, what is the one thing he/she "knows"?
The father's/God's persistent, selfless love
7) What is the meaning of the title and the last line?
"I will arise" is not only the title of the poem, it also appears in lines 20, 21, and 22, and in the final line. It expresses the prodigal's/poet's will to arise from the conditions of the far country and return to a relationship with the father/God.
8) What action does the narrator of the poem perform that the father actually does in the parable?
The poet/prodigal plans to arise and "run" to the father, the action that the father, surprisingly and significantly, performs in Jesus' parable.
9) Does this poem express any part of the meaning of Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son? If so, what?
Although the focus of the poem appears to be on the negative consequences of the son's life in the far country, the main emphasis is on the son's awareness of the father's persistent, selfless love. It is that love, the one thing he truly knows, not the circumstances of his distress, that draws the son back to "the craving flame."
