Goblin Market and other Poems ('Remember', 'Goblin Market', 'Cousin Kate')

Goblin Market and Other Poems was Christina Rossetti's (1830-1894) first volume of poetry, published in 1862. It contains her famous poem ‘Goblin Market’ and others such as ‘Up-hill’, ‘The Convent Threshold’ and ‘Maude Clare.’ ‘Goblin Market’ is an inventive and sensuous poem about two sisters, Laura and Lizzie. The girls are propositioned by goblins, who tempt them to purchase luscious fruits. Despite Lizzie’s warnings, Laura succumbs. Subsequently she craves more fruit, and Lizzie is forced to rescue her. Many contemporaries of Christina Rossetti regarded Goblin Market as a simple moral fable or fairy tale. However the poem has been analysed from a wide range of critical perspectives, relating to the poet’s own life; to Christian themes; to gender, sisterhood and lesbianism, and to discussions about the psychology of the divided self.