Dream Land by Christina Rossetti

She is almost certainly dead. Rossetti weaves sleep imagery throughout, but the evidence is clear: she has permanently departed from the living world, unable to feel rain or witness grains ripening, with everything else lasting "till time shall cease." The poem employs sleep as a soft, euphemistic way to address death—a common approach in Victorian poetry.

"Charmèd" means enchanted — caught under a spell. This is an old poetic term (Shakespeare uses it as well). The accent on the e indicates that it should be pronounced in two syllables: charm-ed. The implication is that her sleep is not natural; it is fixed, permanent, and unbreakable.

It tells the reader — and the natural world at large — to leave this peace undisturbed. It suggests that the sleep could be broken, adding a hint of tension. However, the poem ultimately argues that this rest is valid and deserves respect, rather than interruption.

It represents the realm of death, depicted through the colors of dusk and mourning. In Victorian culture, purple symbolized both grief and royalty, lending a solemn grandeur to the concept of death. Her face turned toward it signifies her complete orientation toward that world, leaving the living one behind.

This is the poem's most comforting thought: she doesn't have to seek out joy or hope to find it when she wakes. Joy will come to her in time and greet her in her tranquility. For Rossetti, a devoted Christian, this probably hints at resurrection or a heavenly reunion — yet the poem remains vague enough to serve as pure solace even without a religious interpretation.

Repetition serves a dual purpose. On one hand, it lends the poem a lullaby-like quality, making the sound soothing. On the other, it feels like someone is reassuring both themselves and the sleeper. The emphasis on rest indicates that the speaker not only wants to describe this peace but also needs to genuinely believe in it.

Each stanza follows an AAAB rhyme scheme, where the fourth line is shorter and indented. This brief, set-apart line feels like a soft conclusion after each trio — Awake her not, Her pleasant lot, That sadly sings. It brings a falling, settling rhythm, as if each stanza is slowly closing its eyes. The structure mirrors the content.

Rossetti faced significant health issues throughout her life and often explored themes of death in her work, making it easy to interpret her writing as autobiographical. However, she wrote this piece at nineteen, long before her most challenging health battles. It’s more plausible that this reflects a contemplation of loss—perhaps related to someone she knew—shaped by her faith and her Pre-Raphaelite style. For Rossetti, death became a subject of fascination, much like love is for some poets: a profound mystery she returned to repeatedly.