Christina Rossetti was a 19th century English poet. She grew up in a family of writers, all three of her siblings also becoming accomplished poets or authors over her lifespan. From a young age, she wrote poetry, fascinated with wordcraft. She published a great deal of poetry, most of which was moderately well received. Hers was not a household name, but she was known during her lifetime.
When Rossetti was a teenager, her life dramatically changed. Her father became chronically ill, and her family's financial situation deteriorated. Rossetti struggled to cope with her difficult circumstances and fell into a mental slump. Eventually, her depression led to a handful of mental breakdowns, and she withdrew from school. Emotions and social struggle feature prominently, in her poetry as they remained significant, if not life-changing, aspects of her experience from early on in life. A devoutly religious woman, Rossetti’s poetry often wrestles with moral and philosophical issues, and even sometimes takes up metaphysical concerns.
Among her most emotionally potent and personal poems stands “Echo,” a sextilla in the medieval Spanish tradition. “Echo” takes the well-worn trope of an unrequited lover calling out to the object of her affection and transforms it, with the speaker calling not to another but to her own memory and dreams, asking them to bring back to her the experience of a past life.
“Echo” was published in 1862 in the collection Goblin Market and Other Poems, which contained the titular poem that has become Rossetti’s most famous work.
