The Full Text of “Babylon the Great”
1Foul is she and ill-favoured, set askew:
2Gaze not upon her till thou dream her fair,
3Lest she should mesh thee in her wanton hair,
4Adept in arts grown old yet ever new.
5Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro'
6For blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair;
7No wine is in her cup, but filth is there
8Unutterable, with plagues hid out of view.
9Gaze not upon her, for her dancing whirl
10Turns giddy the fixed gazer presently:
11Gaze not upon her, lest thou be as she
12When, at the far end of her long desire,
13Her scarlet vest and gold and gem and pearl
14And she amid her pomp are set on fire.
The Full Text of “Babylon the Great”
1Foul is she and ill-favoured, set askew:
2Gaze not upon her till thou dream her fair,
3Lest she should mesh thee in her wanton hair,
4Adept in arts grown old yet ever new.
5Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro'
6For blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair;
7No wine is in her cup, but filth is there
8Unutterable, with plagues hid out of view.
9Gaze not upon her, for her dancing whirl
10Turns giddy the fixed gazer presently:
11Gaze not upon her, lest thou be as she
12When, at the far end of her long desire,
13Her scarlet vest and gold and gem and pearl
14And she amid her pomp are set on fire.
-
“Babylon the Great” Introduction
-
In "Babylon the Great," Victorian poet Christina Rossetti issues a dire prophetic warning against sin. The poem describes Babylon herself, a figure from the biblical Book of Revelation who symbolizes idolatry: the worship of worldly pleasures and false gods over the true God. As the speaker imagines her, Babylon is hideously ugly yet has the power to allure and entrap those foolish enough to gaze upon her. The speaker thunderously warns all who listen to look away, or else risk burning up alongside Babylon when Judgment Day arrives. The poem appeared in Rossetti's commentary on the Book of Revelation, The Face of the Deep (1893).
-
-
“Babylon the Great” Summary
-
Babylon the Great is disgusting and ugly, with a crooked face. Don't stare at her until you start to think she's beautiful, or else she might trap you in her wandering hair; she's skilled in ancient temptations that still work like new. There's no desire in her heart for anything but blood, for which she hungers like a leopard lurking in its den. There's no wine in her cup, only unspeakable filth concealing dread diseases. Don't look at her, for her spinning dances dizzy and hypnotize those who watch her. Don't look at her, or else you'll end up like her, when—at the end of all her schemes—her rich clothes, her gold, her jewels, her pearls, and she herself (in her arrogant splendor) will all burn up.
-
-
“Babylon the Great” Themes
-
The Dangerous Temptations of Sin
"Babylon the Great" is a prophetic warning against sinful temptations and false idols. The poem's speaker describes Babylon herself—a symbolic figure from the biblical book of Revelation (which foretells the Apocalypse, the Christian vision of the end of the world). Perhaps more widely known as the "Whore of Babylon," Babylon the Great is a female figure described as foul and dangerous, but deceptively alluring. She's often interpreted as a personification of idolatry, the worship of worldly things or false gods over the true God.
This poem's speaker paints a lurid picture of Babylon as a terrible witch. Though she's "foul" and "ill-favoured" (hideously ugly), she has the power to persuade those who "gaze [...] upon her" for too long that she's "fair" (beautiful), and then to entrap them. Symbolically speaking, this image suggests that worldly goods like power, wealth, and sex can trick people into believing they're the best and most important things in life.
That's precisely why this poem's speaker warns readers over and over to "gaze not upon" Babylon, whatever they do. If they get caught up in Babylon's illusions, the speaker says, then they'll meet Babylon's fate: at the end of the world, she and all her "pomp" (her showy wealth and glories) will be "set on fire" and destroyed.
The things of the world, in other words, are impermanent and ultimately worthless, even if they look pretty and tempting. To this speaker, what really matters is the state of one's soul and the readiness to meet God with a clean conscience. Babylon here personifies everything that might turn a person's eyes away from Heaven and toward sin.
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
-
-
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Babylon the Great”
-
Lines 1-4
Foul is she and ill-favoured, set askew:
Gaze not upon her till thou dream her fair,
Lest she should mesh thee in her wanton hair,
Adept in arts grown old yet ever new.This sonnet begins with a grim introduction to "Babylon the Great," the poem's title character. Babylon is a figure from the biblical book of Revelation, a vivid and fearsome telling of the Apocalypse (the Christian vision of the end of the world). During the world's last days, Revelation says, many terrifying figures will put in an appearance, Babylon among them:
- Described as a woman decked out in fabulous jewels and riding a seven-headed scarlet beast, Babylon is a seductive but dreadful "harlot," or prostitute. (The word in the original text might equally be read to mean "prostitute" or "idolater," but interpreters have tended to pick up the more concrete and racy option; Babylon is commonly known as the "Whore of Babylon.")
- Symbolically, Babylon has been read as a representative of everything from ill-ruled empires to corrupt churches to a general vision of idolatry (that is, the ill-advised worship of false gods and false worldly pleasures).
Christina Rossetti, a fervent Christian, here works with the last and broadest of these interpretations. In this poem, she'll build on biblical imagery to present Babylon as a dangerous temptress who lures the unwary into false and destructive beliefs.
In rumbling, ominous tones, the poem's speaker introduces Babylon as a trickster. Babylon is hideously ugly, with a crooked and misshapen face—"foul," "ill-favoured," "set askew." But those foolish enough to "gaze [...] upon her" will find that she has deceptive, hypnotic powers. Look at her long enough, and you'll "dream her fair"—hallucinate that she's beautiful.
Symbolically speaking, this is a neat image of the way that false goods and false gods distract from what's really important, in the speaker's view: keeping your eyes fixed on the true God and eternal life. For instance, if you decide that wealth and power are the most important things in the world, you'll see them as beautiful and desirable—even though, in the grander scheme, they're only dangerous distractions.
This, the speaker suggests, is all too easy a trap to fall into. Babylon knows what she's doing. "Gaze not upon her," the speaker warns, or she might "mesh thee in her wanton hair"—tangle you up in her wandering, shameless locks. This intimate image suggests that Babylon is a seducer, and a practiced one: her "arts," her deceitful schemes, are "old yet ever new." Those who fall for Babylon's tricks, in other words, never realize what's happening. Countless generations have been dazzled and blinded by empty, worldly things—and generations yet to come will fall into the same traps again.
The poem's speaker, then, addresses readers in the rumbling voice of a prophet, warning them against the timeless snares of sin. They'll deliver their message in the form of an Italian sonnet:
- The poem uses 14 lines of iambic pentameter (lines of five iambs, metrical feet with a da-DUM rhythm, as in "Adept | in arts | grown old | yet ev- | er new").
- The rhymes stick to a traditional scheme (which always starts out ABBA ABBA, then uses a mixture of C, D, and E rhymes—in this case, CDDECE). That scheme divides the poem into an opening octave (an eight-line passage) and a closing sestet (a six-line passage).
The half-Italian Rossetti often wrote in this form. Here, she'll also turn to some very Italian literary influences to make her case against idolatrous delusions.
-
Lines 5-8
Her heart lusts not for love, but thro' and thro'
For blood, as spotted panther lusts in lair;
No wine is in her cup, but filth is there
Unutterable, with plagues hid out of view. -
Lines 9-14
Gaze not upon her, for her dancing whirl
Turns giddy the fixed gazer presently:
Gaze not upon her, lest thou be as she
When, at the far end of her long desire,
Her scarlet vest and gold and gem and pearl
And she amid her pomp are set on fire.
-
-
“Babylon the Great” Symbols
-
Babylon the Great
Over the centuries, the figure of "Babylon the Great" in the biblical book of Revelation has been interpreted as a symbol of everything from governments to cities to religions. In this poem, she seems to serve a more general role, symbolizing the kind of false, sinful temptations that might turn a person's mind away from God and toward mere earthly pleasure.
As a representative of sin, Babylon is inherently ugly and "ill-favoured." But she also has the power to deceive. Those who follow her come to "dream her fair" (to see her as beautiful) even though she hungers only for "blood" and can offer only "filth." This, the poem warns, is precisely how sinful desires work. People who get caught up in such sins start to feel that they're the most important and delicious things in the world; they thus forget the higher concerns of the spirit.
In particular, Babylon's splendid clothes—her "scarlet vest and gold and gem and pearl"—might indicate that she represents the temptations of wealth, power, and physical pleasure. These worldly delights, the poem's symbolism suggests, are false seducers.
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
-
“Babylon the Great” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
-
Allusion
This poem comes from Christina Rossetti's The Face of the Deep, a commentary on the Bible that she published toward the end of her life. In particular, she alludes here to the book of Revelation, the chapter of the Bible describing a vision of the Apocalypse. The devout Rossetti took this aspect of her Christian faith very seriously indeed. This poem is intended as a dire warning to those who aren't wise enough to turn their eyes away from "Babylon the Great," one of the many vivid figures depicted in Revelation.
More commonly known as the "Whore of Babylon," the Babylon of Revelation is a richly dressed woman riding a beast with seven heads. She has been variously interpreted as:
- A particularly evil city that will give rise to particularly evil rulers (since Babylon was an important ancient city often contrasted with the holy city Jerusalem);
- A symbol of one church or another (often the Catholic church as read by Protestant opponents);
- And a general symbol of idolatry, the worship of false gods and fleeting worldly pleasures.
Here, Rossetti appears to take the last, most general view. Borrowing biblical images of Babylon wearing "scarlet vest and gold and gem and pearl" and carrying a goblet full of "filth" (all of which attributes appear in Revelation), she presents Babylon as a terrible temptress, inherently hideous but able to persuade those who "gaze [...] upon her" that she's desirable.
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Imagery
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Repetition
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Simile
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
-
"Babylon the Great" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Ill-favoured
- Askew
- Gaze
- Thou, Thee
- Lest
- Mesh
- Wanton
- Adept
- Thro'
- Unutterable
- Giddy
- The fixed gazer
- Presently
- Vest
- Pomp
-
Ugly.
- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Babylon the Great”
-
Form
"Babylon the Great" is an Italian sonnet. That means:
- It contains 14 lines.
- It's written in iambic pentameter—lines of five iambs, metrical feet with a da-DUM rhythm, as in "Gaze not | upon | her, lest | thou be | as she"
- It uses one of an Italian sonnet's possible rhyme schemes: these sonnets always start ABBA ABBA, then use a combination of C, D, and E rhymes. In this case, the rhymes run ABBA ABBA CDDECE.
- That rhyme scheme divides the poem into an opening octave (or eight-line section) and a closing sestet (a six-line section).
Christina Rossetti was half-Italian and deeply versed in Italian literature, so she often chose this shape for her sonnets. Here, the elegant form takes on a lurid, macabre quality as the speaker warns against the apocalyptic figure of Babylon the Great. The octet describes this monstrous woman, while the sestet repeatedly exhorts readers: "Gaze not upon her," or you'll risk meeting the same fiery fate she will at the end of the world.
-
Meter
As a sonnet, "Babylon the Great" is written in iambic pentameter. That means that each of its lines uses five iambs, metrical feet with a da-DUM rhythm. For example, take line 11:
Gaze not | upon | her, lest | thou be | as she
This meter—one of the most common in English-language poetry—lends the poem a familiar music, but frequent variations in this steady, pulsing meter help to create drama. The very first line, in fact, starts with a trochee, the opposite foot of an iamb, with a DUM-da rhythm:
Foul is [...]
This emphasizes the word "Foul" and opens the poem on a firm, powerful note. Later, when the speaker starts to imagine the eventual fate of Babylon and her victims in line 12, there's another opening trochee:
When, at | the far | end of | her long | desire,
Here, that trochee boldly ushers in a new stage of the speaker's vision. The heavy twin stresses on "far end," meanwhile, feel as ominous as a rumble of thunder.
-
Rhyme Scheme
"Babylon the Great" uses one of several possible variations on an Italian sonnet rhyme scheme. All Italian sonnets open with an octave (an eight-line section) rhymed ABBA ABBA and end in a sestet (a six-line section) that uses some combination of C, D, and E rhymes. Here's the pattern this poem uses:
ABBA ABBA CDDECE
As usual in an Italian sonnet, the octave here introduces a subject, while the sestet takes a different tack on it. The first eight lines describe the terrible Babylon, while the closing six warn against following her (or even looking at her) lest you end up "set on fire" at the end of the world, just as she will be.
-
-
“Babylon the Great” Speaker
-
The poem's speaker is a grim, apocalyptic voice warning all listeners to beware of "Babylon the Great"—the dreadful female figure from the biblical Book of Revelation. (Across the years, Babylon has been associated with everything from idolatry to the world's sinful cities to whichever church the accuser doesn't happen to be a part of.) Though readers can assume the speaker is on the side of the Christian God, this poem isn't so much about who is warning against sin and evil; the speaker's vision is what matters here, not their identity.
And that vision is lurid. Drawing on imagery from the Bible, the speaker depicts Babylon as a hideous creature who "lusts [...] for blood" and drinks "filth" from a gory goblet. Splendidly dressed in "gold and gem and pearl," she has the power of temptation despite all her ugliness. The speaker thus urgently warns readers, "Gaze not upon her," or she'll lure you in. These grimly vivid warnings make the speaker sound rather like a biblical prophet trying to get the attention of a sinning world.
-
-
“Babylon the Great” Setting
-
There's no clear setting in this poem. The speaker's vision is fixed on Babylon the Great, not the world around her. But then, Babylon represents aspects of the world: for instance, the sinful idolatry (or misplaced worship) that makes people pursue worldly wealth, power, and pleasure instead of the things of the spirit. In some sense, then, the poem is set everywhere. This is a warning to all people to fix their eyes on God and quit their sinning.
But the poem does offer a glimpse of the Apocalypse, the Christian vision of the world's end. On that day, the speaker direly warns, Babylon the Great will be "set on fire" in all her gorgeous clothing; her "scarlet vest and gold and gem and pearl," so alluring now, will go up in flames, and so will all the people foolish enough to let themselves be entrapped by her.
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “Babylon the Great”
-
Literary Context
Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) was born in England to a large and talented family (which also included the well-known painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti). The father of the family was an Italian professor of literature living in exile, and the young Rossettis grew up surrounded by art, steeped in Petrarch and Dante. Rossetti's fondness for the Italian sonnet form is just one mark of her family's literary and cultural background.
This poem comes from one of Rossetti's later works, The Face of the Deep (1893), a long, passionate devotional work containing Rossetti's commentary on the biblical book of Revelation (which foretells the apocalypse). The particular episode she picks up on here is the appearance of "Babylon the Great," a symbolic figure named after the famously luxurious ancient city of Babylon. In biblical texts, Babylon is often contrasted with Jerusalem: it's imagined as the worldly city to Jerusalem's blessed, heavenly city, and it's used to represent human sin and error. Personified as a "harlot," Babylon the Great appears in Revelation astride a seven-headed, ten-horned beast, a figure of deceitful allure and power.
In her younger years, Rossetti was perhaps most famous for her long poem "Goblin Market," which started a Victorian vogue for sinister fairy tales. Rossetti was also a noted early feminist figure, and many of her works deal with the complexities of women's lives in a restrictive society.
Rossetti was influenced by Elizabeth Barrett Browning—another popular woman poet with strong ties to Italy—and some of her contemporaries saw her as the elder poet's natural successor. She was also connected to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the artistic school of which her brother Dante Gabriel was a founding member.
Unlike many poets, Rossetti became popular and successful in her own lifetime and was even suggested as a possible Poet Laureate. Her reputation as a brilliant lyrical poet has never tarnished, and she's still much studied today. Her poetry has been a major influence on writers from Virginia Woolf to Philip Larkin.
Historical Context
Christina Rossetti lived in a world marked both by revolutionary change and reactionary conservatism. England reshaped itself considerably under the reign of Victoria, its first truly powerful queen since Elizabeth I. A primarily rural population made an unprecedented shift to the cities as factory work outpaced farm work, and writers from Dickens to Hardy worried about the human effects of this kind of change.
Perhaps in response to this speedy reconfiguration of the world, Victorian social culture became deeply conservative. Women were expected to adhere to a strict code of sexual morals: a woman must be chaste, pliant, and submissive, and any deviation could mean social exile. But within this repressive landscape, women writers flourished, asserting the complexity and significance of their own lives. Rossetti's work was part of a tide of bold and moving poetry and fiction by Victorian women; Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are only a few of the writers whose work achieved contemporary recognition against the odds.
This poem also shows Rossetti making a stand as a public religious thinker. Rossetti was deeply religious, and her faith always played a major role in her poetry. Her family was swept up in the Oxford Movement, a mid-19th-century revival of Catholicism in Britain that sought to restore older Christian traditions. Many of its prominent practitioners, known as Tractarians, were poets, such as John Henry Newman and John Keble.
-
-
More “Babylon the Great” Resources
-
External Resources
-
A Brief Biography — Learn more about Rossetti's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.
-
The Face of the Deep — Take a look at Rossetti's commentary on the biblical Apocalypse, the intense devotional work from which this poem is taken.
-
Portraits of Rossetti — See some images of Rossetti (and her talented family) via London's National Portrait Gallery.
-
More on Rossetti — Find a wealth of Rossetti resources at the Victorian Web.
-
-
LitCharts on Other Poems by Christina Rossetti
-
