'Sister Maude' - Christina Rossetti

Context

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) is remembered as one of the Pre-Raphaelites, a group of 19th century artists and writers who took inspiration from works of art produced in the Middle Ages. Sister Maude draws on the traditional folk tale of two sisters feuding over a lover. The Victorians were keen on folk traditions, and lots of poetry from the period makes use of traditional source material.

Sister Maude describes the death of a loved one caused by the actions of a jealous sister. The poem is ambiguous but hints strongly that jealousy and betrayal led to the death of a sister's lover. The poem is written from the point of view of the betrayed sister, left alone without her loved one, who was coveted by Maude. The speaker believes that even if she hadn't been born her dead lover would "never have looked at" Maude, and perhaps this provided motivation for Maude to destroy the lovers' relationship.

Structure and language

Structure

Each stanza contains even lines that rhyme; this regular pattern helps to reinforce the traditional source for the poem because older poetry is often characterised by the use of strict structural devices like rhyme, rhythm and even line and stanza lengths.
Of the five stanzas in the poem, four have four lines. The fifth stanza offers an extra two lines in which there is a turn, after which the mood of the poem subtly alters.

Language

 

The poem opens with a rhetorical question (a question which is asked for specific effect). This opening also makes clear that there is an implied audience for the poem - the woman's sister, Maude, who is accused of bringing about the death of a lover.
The third line makes use of a break in the centre (a technique called 'caesura') to reflect the speaker's outrage and anger that "Maude, my sister Maude" could have deliberately caused such a tragedy. The repetition of "Maude" also adds to the strength of the narrator's feelings.
There are frequent religious references in the poem, reflecting conventions within society at the time in which the poem was written, as well as the seriousness of the events described. Maude has committed such a terrible deed that, rather than going to heaven, her sister tells her, "Bide you with death and sin". The narrator feels that Maude deserves the eternal punishment of hell.
The regular rhythm of the poem is broken by a shorter line in line 16, highlighting Maude's destiny:

My father may sleep in Paradise,My mother at Heaven-gate;But sister Maude shall get no sleepEither early or late.

Alliteration is used in the poem to communicate the feelings of the speaker. In the second stanza she describes the body of her dead lover using several repetitions of the letter 'c', the hard sound echoing her outburst. In the final two lines there is alliteration of 's' sounds, mimicking the hissing satisfaction that the speaker feels at the prospect of her sister going to hell.