A+Birthday

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** A Birthday ** ** By Christina Rossetti ** Halcyon – idyllic, calm Dais – platform Down – soft feathers Vair – squirrel fur Eyes – i.e. the circles in a peacock’s tail Fleurs-de-lys – three-petalled flowers
 * Glossary:**

As this is a sensory poem, c opy the poem onto a blank document and choose a suitable fonts and colours for it. Illustrate it with pictures and materials to convey the tactile nature of the poem.
 * Introductory Activity**


 * Analysis**
 * Questions to guide reading of the poem**
 * Why does Rossetti refer to her ‘heart’ in the first stanza and not herself (I)?
 * Explore the comparisons (similes) Rossetti makes with her heart in the first stanza (see similes sheet):
 * **Simile** ||  **Comments on effect created**  ||
 * Singing bird / Whose nest in is a watered shoot ||  ||
 * Apple tree / Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit ||  ||
 * Rainbow shell / that paddles in a halcyon sea ||  ||


 * Rossetti then states that her heart is ‘gladder than all these’. What does this comparative tell you about the strength of her feelings?
 * Sketch the dais of the second stanza and label it. What do you think Rossetti is suggesting about her feelings towards her ‘love’?
 * What do all of the images she uses in her poem have in common? Do they have any symbolic value? How might this be relevant to the poem?
 * How does the tone of the second stanza change? How is this achieved?
 * Find and highlight examples of anaphora. On post-it notes, explain the use Rossetti makes of anaphora in the poem.
 * Find examples of rhyme. On post-its, explain the use Rossetti makes of rhyme in the poem.
 * What comments can you make about the use of punctuation?
 * Why do you think Rossetti describe her love’s coming as a ‘birthday’?
 * Who or // what // could her love be?




 * Biography of** ** Christina Rossetti ** (1830 - 1894)
 * An important 19th century female poet (romantic, devotional and children’s poems)
 * Wrote the words to the Christmas carol //In the Bleak Midwinter//
 * Educated at home
 * Sister of poet / painter Dante Gabriel
 * A secluded life; punctuated by periods of illness
 * Devout Christian; she broke off a relationship with Charles Cayley when she ‘found he was not Christian’; She even gave up chess when she found she enjoyed winning!
 * Died unmarried