Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Comparing and Contrasting Rossetti and Stevenson

"Sing-Song, A Nursery Rhyme Book" by Christina Rossetti
  • Themes deal with love, death and parting (The realities of life)
  • More tragic and sad than Stevenson's collection
  • None of the poems have titles
  • The poems follow the cycle of life/day/year and tell the story from start to finish
  • Begins and ends with an image of a baby in a cradle
  • Illustrations by Arthur Hughes add depth and meaning to the verses and make the reader think more about the words.  
  • Both collections were published around the same time period (within ten years)
  • Pushes didacticism 
  • Not written from a child's point of view, and adults are present much more in the verses/poems 
"A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Lois Stevenson
  • Themes deal mainly with play, adventure, travel, nature, imagination, fun, and the joys of childhood
  • Poems written from a child's point of view, obviously to be read by a child
  • The illustrations are rather generic
  • Verses are nostalgic and joyous
  • Playful
  • Works against didacticism, many present an ironic tone about adults
  • All the verses have a title

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