Up-Hill

By Christina Rossetti

Pre-Reading

What are the connotations of “Up-Hill?”

What are the connotations of the word “Journey?”

What concerns could each of the following questions represent?

Does the road wind up-hill all the way?But is there for the night a resting-place?

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?

Read the Poem

What do you think that the poem is about?

Up-hill was immensely popular with early readers.

Why do you think that so many people enjoyed this particular poem?

Synopsis

The speaker is a traveller who questions a guide about the journey that s/he is on. S/he asks and

receives answers, about whether:

The journey will ‘wind up-hill all the way' (line 1) and take all day (yes)

S/he will recognise the place to rest (it is impossible to miss it)

There will be others on the journey (yes)A kind reception awaits (a ready welcome, with

comfortable beds for everyone).

BackgroundRossetti composed Up-hill in 1858 and first published it in Macmillan's Magazine in 1861. The following year, she used it to conclude the section of non-devotional poetry that forms the first half of Goblin Market and Other Poems.

Up-hill was the first poem that Rossetti contributed to the magazine but, after its publication, she contributed several more. By having samples of her work printed in periodicals such as Macmillan's Magazine, Rossetti widened her readership significantly.

More on periodicals: Macmillan's Magazine was founded in 1859 and was one of the most significant literary and intellectual periodicals of the Victorian era. A periodical is a magazine which is issued at regular intervals throughout the year. The Victorian period saw a rise in the publication and readership of periodicals as literacy widened and the growing middle classes had more leisure time.

Periodicals often contained serialised fiction, poetry, articles and reviews. Rossetti wrote poetry for several literary and intellectual periodicals during her career.

Ambiguity

Up-hill's ambiguity has meant that it has been widely discussed and analysed. The insistent questioning of the speaker, coupled with an uncertainty about how readers are to interpret the answers that are given, means bringing to the poem one's own experiences

and beliefs. For instance, the ‘inn' and the ‘beds' (lines 8, 16) can be understood in various ways.

How do you understand them?

Journey

The speaker's journey can be interpreted in several ways:

It can be seen as the journey from life to death. Throughout her poetry, Rossetti uses the image of day to symbolise life and night to symbolise death. Considering that the traveller is contemplating a journey from ‘morn to night' (line 6), this reading can be understood in the context of Rossetti's devotional poemsIt can be seen as the journey of life. It is possible that the speaker is asking whether life will get any easier once more experience has been gainedIt could be understood to indicate the journey that some believe everyone faces after death. This reading corresponds with the doctrine of purgatory.

More on purgatory: For centuries, Catholics have believed that there are three realms that souls can go to after death: heaven, hell and purgatory. They taught that purgatory is a place that souls go in order to prepare for heaven and receive cleansing for their sins. The fact that Up-hill speaks of ‘beds for all who come' (line 16) suggests that the destination of the journey of the speaker is not simply heaven but is instead a place of waiting. However, the notion of rest does not fit smoothly into the idea of receiving punishment.

Journey

Discuss ways in which the journey can be interpreted?

What do you think?

Wayfarers

The traveller asks whether she shall meet ‘other wayfarers at night' as she travels. The word ‘wayfarer' means traveller and

is used to describe those who travel on road by foot.

The sum of labour

The traveller is told that, when she reaches the inn, she will ‘find the sum' of her ‘labour' (line 14). The idea that rest from the difficult labours of life can be found beyond the grave is

one that the New Testament writerJohn considers in Revelation, the last book of the Bible.

“Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on'. 

 'Yes', says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labour, for their deeds will follow them'.” Revelation 14:13 

Walking in another person’s shoes…

What are the difficulties and dangers of travelling long

distances on foot?

In these circumstances, how comforting is it to meet other people who are in the same

situation?

With which of the speaker's questions do you most

sympathise?

How comforting are the answers she receives, do you think?

Language and Tone

ConversationalUp-hill has a conversational tone as it recounts the dialogue

between the traveller and the guide. By not including speech marks, Rossetti incorporates the conversation into the poem itself and

structures the poem around it.

‘My friend'The one who answers the traveller's questions refers to the speaker

as ‘my friend'. This gives rise to the interpretation that it is Jesus who speaks and comforts. Rossetti's original readership

would be familiar with a conversation recorded by the gospel of John. Here, Jesus tells his followers:

“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know their master's business.

Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:14-15

CatechismsCatechisms are often in the form of questions followed by

answers to be memorized, in order to teach religious doctrines. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer, with which Rossetti

would have been familiar, contains several brief catechisms for the services of baptism and confirmation.

By basing Up-hill on a question and answer format,  Rossetti not only creates a conversational tone but also offers an

imitation of the style contained in The Book of Common Prayer. By adopting an informal and intimate style, she appropriates the formal aspect of the catechism and makes it relevant for

the contemporary Christian. By having the traveller ask the questions and a Christ-like

voice answer them, she turns the structure of the catechism around and reinforces the notion that reassurance can be

found when it is sought.

Investigating Language and Tone

How comfortable do you think the speaker is in asking difficult questions?

What indications can you find to suggest that the tone of the conversation is informal?

Can you identify any signs that the speaker asks the questions in a state of panic?

Compare the tone of the questioner to the tone of the respondent.

Structure and Versification

Questioning

The entire poem is structured around a series of questions. In each verse, the first and the third lines are given as questions and the

second and fourth as answers.

This conversational format is a feature of several poems included in Goblin Market and Other Poems.

However, whereas those poems contain lines of dialogue, in Up-hill, by incorporating the conversation into such a tight structure, Rossetti

leaves its meaning more open to the interpretation of the reader.

Rhyme

Each verse has an abab rhyme scheme. Using very simple words to conclude each line, the strong masculine rhymes are emphasised.

The simplicity of the rhyming words conceals the difficult subjects of life, death and eternity which are alluded to.

The abab scheme suggests a movement that is ongoing but not straight-forward. The patterned repetition can be seen to reflect the winding or spiralling upward of the hill that the speaker describes. It

is also reminiscent of the scheme used in a traditional ballad.

MetreAfter the trochaic opening line, the metre of Up-hill is largely iambic. As in

the line, ‘From morn to night, my friend' (line 4), the words which convey the most meaning are stressed. Alternating between pentameter and trimeter lines, meaning that each line has either five or three stresses, the rhythm

that the poem creates is regular, replicating the ongoing pace with which the speaker climbs the hill she describes.

By breaking out of the regular iambic rhythm with which she loosely structures the poem, Rossetti emphasises certain phrases and draws

attention to the sections of the speech which are uttered more passionately than others. For instance, by beginning the line, ‘Shall I meet other wayfarers

at night?' (line 9) with a trochee, the doubt contained in the word ‘shall' is emphasised (similarly in l. 3, 13 and 15). In addition, by using the word

‘wayfarers' on the same line, a dactyl is created which slows down the rising and quick iambic rhythm of the rest of the poem.

Repetition and reinforcement

The uncertainty of all the questions culminates in the final stanza when the guide actually replays the speaker's words

as reassurance:

‘Shall I find..?' / ‘you shall find'.‘Will there be beds for me and all..?' / ‘Yea, beds for all'

This is a technique often used by parents to comfort young children.

Investigating structure and versification

Look at the appearance of the poem on the page. What does the regular and formal looking

structure suggest?Re-read the poem aloud and identity places in

which the iambic metre is brokenHow does this affect the way the poem is read

or understood?What does it reveal about the questioner or the

respondent?

Imagery and symbolism

The road - In Up-hill, the road symbolises the journey the speaker takes. Instead of being straight, the fact that it is ‘winding' and ‘up-

hill' suggests that the path is long and difficult. However, that there is actually a road leading up the hill indicates that plenty of others have already taken the route that is being contemplated.

The speaker will not have to carve or find her own path since it has already been revealed to her.

The road can be interpreted as:

Literally, as a long walk to an unseen destinationMetaphorically, as representing the path that life takes

A pathway and Journey of faith

What could the inn represent?The inn - The traveller is told that she ‘cannot miss that inn' (line 8) that stands at the

top of the hill and offers rest for those who have spent the entire day climbing. Literally, the fact that it stands out in the darkness of the night indicates that the light that it sheds is powerful and will not be overpowered. Metaphorically the ‘inn' represents security. Against the context of the Bible, the idea of a place of welcome and rest

echoes two allusions:

1. The description of the ‘rooms' in heaven prepared for believers (as referred to in A Convent Threshold), taken from John's Gospel. Jesus comforts his disciples with the

promise:

My Father's house has plenty of room; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I

will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:2-3

2. The inn which Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary sought for rest and a chance to give birth to Jesus. Although there was ‘no room for them in the inn' (Luke 2:7) the

poem gives assurance that there will be space for the speaker.

The Door

The traveller asks whether s/he will have to ‘knock' the door of the inn when s/he reaches it or whether s/he will be kept waiting for admittance. S/he is reassured that the door will be opened upon arrival and that ‘those who have gone before' will be ready to greet him/her (lines 10-12).

If the poem is to be understood in a Christian context, Rossetti can be seen to take the image of the door from two references in the New Testament:

1. In Luke 11:9-10 Jesus encourages people to turn to God with their concerns:

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.

2. In the last book of the New Testament, Revelation Jesus is depicted as a friend ready to share with those who ask for him:

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them and they with me. Revelation 3:20 TNIVIn this passage, the door spoken of refers to the acceptance of Jesus in the human heart. In Up-hill, the one knocking at the door is not Jesus but the traveller. However, the responsibility for creating an environment in which the door is ready to be opened lies with the individual - it is the speaker's choice whether or not to persevere on the journey in time to reach the inn.

What is the significance of the beds?

The traveller is promised ‘beds for all who come' (line 16) to the inn.

The image of beds indicates rest, comfort, shelter and security. After a long struggle, the idea of resting is all

that the speaker can look forward to.The idea of beds also points to Rossetti's engagement

with a doctrinespoken of as ‘soul sleep'. This doctrine teaches that when Christians die, instead of going to straight to heaven, they experience a period of rest and sleep in preparation for the Second Coming of

Jesus, at which point they will be taken up to heaven and be rewarded with eternal life. This doctrine is also

apparent in Rossetti's poem Song(When I am dead)

Investigating imagery and symbolism

What associations do you have with travelling on foot?

Are these associations met in Up-hill?

What images do you find the most surprising?

To what extent does the answer that there are ‘beds for all who come' offer reassurance to the

speaker?

What are the Themes of the Poem?

Moving upwards

Throughout her poetry, Rossetti draws on the imagery of flames, mountains, stairs and hills to emphasise the upward progression of the spiritual journey. She suggests that the

journey to heaven is one of continuous upward movement in that the soul is moved upwards away from the earth and its pleasures as it learns more of God and of heaven.

In Up-hill, Rossetti emphasises the idea that the upward progression of the soul is not a simple and easy process. Lots of distractions, concerns and doubts can weigh a person down and the upward movement can turn into one of struggle instead of one of joy.

Doubt

The speaker's questions all arise from a sense of uncertainty and doubt. S/he is unsure what the journey holds and what will be found at the end of it. The incessant

questioning is short and simple and the answers received often serve to create more questions. It is not a poem which expands on certain doctrines or ideas.

How can we Link it to the other poems?

Essay QuestionDiscuss how the poet explores the idea of uncertainty in “Up Hill”.

In your answer explore the author’s use of language, imagery and verse form, and consider ways in which you find the poem characteristic of Rossetti’s work in your selection.

HW: Produce a detailed plan and write the introduction