A poem about temptation, salvation, and sacrificial love. ( )

This classic poem explores the relationship of sisters through the temptation of goblin fruit. One sister falls to temptation, and the other sister must watch as she begins to fade away before her eyes for want of this forbidden pleasure. Most would view this poem as a moral story, but from a feminist perspective we see themes of female independence and strength, as well as the foibles of choice that plague all mankind. ( )

The Goblin Market is a short story/ poem that reads like a fairy tale. The message of the poem is about sexuality the desires we have but should not necessarily give into those desire without dire consequences.

I was very intrigued by this short story as I heard it read on the podcast CraftLit. The podcaster read it before the beginning of getting into The Picture Of Dorian Grey. Both stories talk about people giving into desires and what happens as a result. The Goblin Market is similar to fairy tales because there is an innocence to the prose, not unlike a children’s book. But there is a darkness as well...which is not unlike Neil Gaiman short stories.

I would like to see a completely illustrated version of the Goblin Market. Even though the story is beautifully described I longed to see a visual to just give it a little more creepiness.

I am glad I found this little gem. I am curious about what else author Christina Rossetti has written during this time she had on this earth. One day maybe I will read more of her work. ( )

Christina Rossetti was the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Dante Rossetti was one of the first artists who began the Pre-Raphaelite artistic movement. Christina's Goblin Market was published in 1862. This is a tale of two sisters, one strong in character, the other prone to follow her desires.

When they come upon the Goblins in the brookside rushes, both listen to the Goblins who call for the ladies to buy their fruit. In rhyming fashion, they tell of fresh, lushion, wild, rare and ripe fruit that is sweet to the tongue and sound to the eye.

Laura cannot resist the Goblin men and their luscious fruit. Depicted as ugly rat like men who crawl like a snail and are creatures who sound kind and full of love. As Laura becomes satiated with the juicy fruits, her sister Lizzie runs toward home.

Returning, Laura tells her sister she ate and ate her fill and longs to buy more. Now, she learns that she cannot live without the fruit of the goblins. When she appeared at death's door, brave Lizzie finds the goblins and though the temptation is near overwhelming, she does not yield to the hugs and kisses and lusciousness of their wares.

As the goblins now scratch, grunt and snarl, looking evil tore her clothes and squeezed the fruit against her. When she arrived home, telling Laura to partake of the juice f the fruit so that she may be saved, Laura is healed.

This tale is explained in Victorian time when women were to be exceedingly chase. Thus, by partaking of the fruit and the Goblins, Laura is no longer pure. In the end, she is not saved by men, but by a woman -- her sister. ( )

In the dead of night, I shivered and winced while reading 'Goblin Market.' Christina Rossetti's poems in this collection are about death, love and loss. Yet poems like 'A Birthday' bring beautiful reminisces of a love that Christina compares to peacocks with a hundred eyes and her heart as a singing bird, an apple tree and a rainbow shell. I revered in this vivid imagery. This book is not a very happy collection of poems but nevertheless, they made me admire her. If I write that I like these poems, I am not sure if that would mean I love the dark forces of death and loss. But Rossetti is an important woman and she will remain so. Even when she wrote 'The Queen of Hearts' she made the lover so deranged after realising he will never get over the puzzle of how she (Flora) possesses the Queen of hearts! But she wrote about her dream and alas! not all dreams come true. ( )