Goblin Market- A Victorian Poem by Christina Rossetti

This is a small excerpt from Victorian poet Christina Rossetti’s epic poem Goblin Market. You can find the whole text online. I used this poem as an example in my essay on food in poetry. This is a fun poem to read aloud the alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and visual feast.

“Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy:
Apples and quinces,
Lemons and oranges,
Plump unpecked cherries-
Melons and raspberries,
Bloom-down-cheeked peaches,
Swart-headed mulberries,
Wild free-born cranberries,
Crab-apples, dewberries,
Pine-apples, blackberries,
Apricots, strawberries–
All ripe together
In summer weather–
Morns that pass by,
Fair eves that fly;
Come buy, come buy;
Our grapes fresh from the vine,
Pomegranates full and fine,
Dates and sharp bullaces,
Rare pears and greengages,
Damsons and bilberries,
Taste them and try:
Currants and gooseberries,
Bright-fire-like barberries,
Figs to fill your mouth,
Citrons from the South,
Sweet to tongue and sound to eye,
Come buy, come buy.”
Christina Rossetti

 

 

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3 Replies to “Goblin Market- A Victorian Poem by Christina Rossetti”

  1. I just love this poem by Christina Rossetti. We had this poem in our English Literature graduate course. I studied it so deeply that I used to have nightmares of goblin haranguing the sister.
    ๐Ÿ™‚
    Good choice for your book!
    Cheers!

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