Christina Rossetti

"Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: “Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy... Experience the temptation, pleasure, punishment, and redemption of Christina Rossetti's brilliant poetic masterpiece. First published in 1862, the work is the phantasmagoric tale of two maidens seduced by lewd goblin men, and it provides a startling glimpse into the depths of the Victorian psyche. For children, the story offers a captivating adventure into a land of fantasy. For adults, it's a lyrical and sensual allegory of temptation, sacrifice, and salvation. Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was one of the most important women poets writing in nineteenth-century England. She was born in London December 5, 1830, within a family of poets, artists, and critics. Today she is best remembered by her infamous poem 'Goblin Market' (1862), but also by 'Complete Poems' and 'Selected Poems of Christina Rossetti' (1970).

Rossetti is unique among Victorian poets for the sheer range of her subject matter and the variety of her verse form. This collection brings together fantasy poems, such as Goblin Market, and terrifyingly vivid verses for children, love lyrics and sonnets, and the vast body of her devotional poetry. Rossetti's poems weave connections between love and death, triumph and loss, heavenly joys and earthly pleasures. The directness and clarity of her lyrics still have the power to startle us with their truth and beauty.