Wolfe Poem 3 Intro
“Uphill” by Christina Rossetti is a series of
eight seemingly unanswerable/rhetorical questions that are answered by the
speaker, who is interpreted to be a credible and knowledgeable about a topic
full of speculation since the beginning of time: religion. Rossetti was a
believer herself, which more than likely influenced the reason for the topic in
the first place. Classic metaphors of the “road winding uphill”, the “day’s
journey taking the whole day”, are utilized to account for that which is not
the easiest for humans to speak of: the path to death and the afterlife. At the
time of publication, Christianity was becoming a dominant religion all over the
world, as is evident as the poem indicates that the speaker is omniscient,
while the one questioning the speaker appears to wonder and cling to the idea
that with the end of the journey, after he or she is “travel-sore and weak”, “comfort”
will come, and not only will he or she will be able to enter, but will be given
a bed all to his or her own. The one
questioning the speaker needs affirmation that he or she will be allowed into
the gates of heaven, with the fate up to none other than Jesus Christ himself,
as of course, is one of the core beliefs of Christianity. Supposedly those who
strongly believed in Christ would have their souls redeemed for their hard work
and struggles along the way that lead them there, which is the spine of “Uphill”.
eight seemingly unanswerable/rhetorical questions that are answered by the
speaker, who is interpreted to be a credible and knowledgeable about a topic
full of speculation since the beginning of time: religion. Rossetti was a
believer herself, which more than likely influenced the reason for the topic in
the first place. Classic metaphors of the “road winding uphill”, the “day’s
journey taking the whole day”, are utilized to account for that which is not
the easiest for humans to speak of: the path to death and the afterlife. At the
time of publication, Christianity was becoming a dominant religion all over the
world, as is evident as the poem indicates that the speaker is omniscient,
while the one questioning the speaker appears to wonder and cling to the idea
that with the end of the journey, after he or she is “travel-sore and weak”, “comfort”
will come, and not only will he or she will be able to enter, but will be given
a bed all to his or her own. The one
questioning the speaker needs affirmation that he or she will be allowed into
the gates of heaven, with the fate up to none other than Jesus Christ himself,
as of course, is one of the core beliefs of Christianity. Supposedly those who
strongly believed in Christ would have their souls redeemed for their hard work
and struggles along the way that lead them there, which is the spine of “Uphill”.
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