« Achetez, achetez », criaient les gobelins Qui dévalaient dans le chemin. « Oh, s'écria Lizzie. Laura, Laura, Ne regarde pas les lutins ». Christina Rossetti Mystique, mélancolique et visionnaire, Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) fut, à l'époque victorienne, l'auteur d'une oeuvre de premier plan. À l'occasion de son centenaire, Virginia Woolf lui rendra hommage dans l'essai dont nous donnons, en préface de ce volume, la traduction : Je suis Christina Rossetti. Le Marché aux elfes (The Goblin Market), poème composé en avril 1859 puis publié dans le recueil éponyme en 1862, valut à Rossetti la célébrité et fit l'objet de diverses interprétations. Patrick Reumaux qui en signe la traduction, nous livre la sienne dans sa postface. Aux aquarelles ésotériques et magiques du baron Casimiro Piccolo qui ornent le poème répondent, dans la postface, les portraits préraphaélites des protagonistes peints par Dante Gabriel Rossetti, frère de Christina.

Monna Innominata : voici une voix féminine qui brise les codes de la poésie victorienne. Christina Rossetti y réinvente l’amour, sans rivalité ni compétition, mais avec une exigence d’égalité et de réciprocité.

Discover the English writer of romantic poems, Christina Rossetti's extensive collection with this comprehensive anthology. Spanning `The Prince's Progress', following the story of a princess awaiting the return of her prince and `The Goblin Market', the tale of Laura and Lizzie tempted with fruit by goblin merchants, Rossetti's delicate and swift prose is crafted to charm adults and children alike. Dealing with themes of female sexuality, patience and religion, Rossetti's `Poems' are the perfect companion for fans of the Radio 4 podcast `In our Time'. Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) was an English writer of romantic, religious and children's poems. Celebrated today as an inspiration for Virginia Woolf's writings, Rossetti's work spans themes of female sexuality with `The Goblin Market' and issues of self-indulgence, devotion and patience with `The Prince's Progress'. She volunteered at St Mary Magdalene house of charity in Highgate, a refuge for ex-prostitutes, and openly opposed slavery in the United States during the years of the American Civil War. Rossetti remains a prominent female poet, associated with Elizabeth Barret Browning as her predecessor.

Maude is a novella by Christina Rossetti, written in 1850 but published posthumously in 1897. Considered by scholars to be semi-autobiographical, the protagonist is 15-year-old Maude Foster, a quiet and serious girl who writes poetry that explores the tensions between religious devotion and worldly desires. The text includes several of Rossetti's early verses, which were later published as part of her collections of poetry.