Christina (1830-1894 / London / England) was the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and like him she showed promise as a poet while still very young. She was educated at home and encouraged to write by her family; her teenage poems were printed by her grandfather on his own press.

She was a devout Anglican, and refused two suitors on religious grounds: the painter James Collinson because he became a Roman Catholic; and Charles Bagot Cayley, because he was an atheist. Perhaps as a result of this self-denial, a recurrent theme in her poetry is the rejection of earthly passion in favour of spiritual devotion. Even those poems with a strong element of fantasy in them, such as ’Goblin Market’ or ’The Prince’s Progress’ are often written with a clear moral purpose in mind.

Rossetti’s health was always poor, and illness had rendered her an invalid by the time she was fifty. She continued to write however, producing Time Flies: A Reading Diary (1885), which contained poems and thoughts for each day, and The Face of the Deep: A Devotional Commentary on the Apocalypse (1892). After her death her brother W.M. Rossetti brought out an edition of her later poetry, New Poems, in 1896, and edited her Collected Poems (1904).

Christina Rossetti is widely regarded as the greatest female poet in English up to her own time. She was considered for the position of Poet Laureate, before her final illness made the appointment impossible.

Color 顏色

by Christina Georgina Rossetti

What is pink? A rose is pink

By the fountain’s brink.

What is red? A poppy’s red

In its barley bed.

What is blue? The sky is blue

Where the clouds float thro’.

What is white? A swan is white

Sailing in the light.

What is yellow? Pears are yellow,

Rich and ripe and mellow.

What is green? The grass is green,

With small flowers between.

What is violet? Clouds are violet

In the summer twilight.

What is orange? Why, an orange,

Just an orange!

什么是粉紅色?

噴泉邊的玫瑰就是粉紅色。

什么是艷紅色?

在大麥床里的罌粟花就是艷紅色。

什么是蔚藍色?天空就是蔚藍色，

云朵飄過其間。

什么是白色?

陽光下嬉水的天鵝就是白色。

什么是黃色?梨兒就是黃色，

熟透且多汁。

什么是綠色?草就是綠色，

小花摻雜其間。

什么是紫色?夏日夕陽里的

彩霞就是紫色。

什么是橘色?當然啦!

橘子就是橘色。