Christina Rossetti's Faithful Imagination: The Devotional Poetry and Prose [Hardcover]

This new study focuses on the critically neglected area of Rossetti's devotional poetry and her prose, offering a critical intervention in the feminist construction of an important Victorian woman poet.Introduction 'Out of Sight, In Mind': The Tractarian Influence 'Decayed Branches from a Strong Stem': Rossetti's Keatsian Heritage 'Great Love and Long Study': Dante, Petrarch, and Monna Innominata 'A Courteous Tilt in the Strong-Minded Woman Lists': Rossetti, St Paul, and Women Spiritual Autobiography in Time Flies: A Reading Diary Imagining Faith: Earth and Heaven in The Face of the Deep Selected Bibliography Index

'Roe's book rediscovers neglected works, making a case for their relevance to a modern audience...It is a beautifully written, thoughtful and accessible work which will appeal to fans of poetry, women's writing, and the 19th century.' - The Hamstead and Highgate Express

'With critical sensitivity and careful attentiveness to Rossetti's poetic style and scriptural heritage, Roe demonstrates in convincing and original close readings Rossetti's deft mining of Tractarian aesthetic resources including typology, analogy, and reserve...Christina Rossetti's Faithful Imagination deserves careful study by all serious Rossetti scholars.' - Esther T. Hu, Victorian Studies

'...Dinah Roe contributes significantly to the growing interest in Christina Rossetti's theology and to the recent trend of examing Rossetti's devotional work...Roe also enhances our understanding of Rossetti's devotional prose, a rearely treated aspect of her work that requires more thorough consideration.' - Todd O. Williams, Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies

DINAH ROE is an independent scholar whose interests include the nineteenth-century novel, Victorian poetry, and the devotional prose works of Christina Rossetti. She is currently editing and introducing the forthcoming Penguin Classics edition of Christina Rossetti's Selected Poems.