In Christina Rossetti's "From the Antique," an unhappy speaker laments that life as a woman is blank and empty—and declares that, if one can't be a man, it might be better to be nothing at all. This speaker's vivid picture of how easy it would be to simply not exist suggests she's filled with despair. But her wistful images of the world's continuing beauty (and the presence of an almost silent but sympathetic narrator) make the picture a little more complicated. The speaker isn't alone in her misery, this poem suggests: women "from the antique," since ancient times, have been shut out of life's joys by sexist oppression. "From the Antique" first appeared in the 1896 book New Poems, a posthumous collection of verse published by Rossetti's brother William Michael Rossetti.
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The Full Text of “From the Antique”
1It's a weary life, it is, she said:
2Doubly blank in a woman's lot:
3I wish and I wish I were a man:
4Or, better than any being, were not:
5Were nothing at all in all the world.
6Not a body and not a soul:
7Not so much as a grain of dust
8Or a drop of water from pole to pole.
9Still the world would wag on the same,
10Still the seasons go and come:
11Blossoms bloom as in days of old,
12Cherries ripen and wild bees hum.
13None would miss me in all the world,
14How much less would care or weep.
15I should be nothing, while all the rest
16Would wake and weary and fall asleep.
The Full Text of “From the Antique”
1It's a weary life, it is, she said:
2Doubly blank in a woman's lot:
3I wish and I wish I were a man:
4Or, better than any being, were not:
5Were nothing at all in all the world.
6Not a body and not a soul:
7Not so much as a grain of dust
8Or a drop of water from pole to pole.
9Still the world would wag on the same,
10Still the seasons go and come:
11Blossoms bloom as in days of old,
12Cherries ripen and wild bees hum.
13None would miss me in all the world,
14How much less would care or weep.
15I should be nothing, while all the rest
16Would wake and weary and fall asleep.
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“From the Antique” Summary
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“From the Antique” Themes
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Women's Oppression
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World-Weariness and Despair
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “From the Antique”
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Lines 1-4
It's a weary life, it is, she said:
Doubly blank in a woman's lot:
I wish and I wish I were a man:
Or, better than any being, were not: -
Lines 5-8
Were nothing at all in all the world.
Not a body and not a soul:
Not so much as a grain of dust
Or a drop of water from pole to pole. -
Lines 9-12
Still the world would wag on the same,
Still the seasons go and come:
Blossoms bloom as in days of old,
Cherries ripen and wild bees hum. -
Lines 13-16
None would miss me in all the world,
How much less would care or weep.
I should be nothing, while all the rest
Would wake and weary and fall asleep.
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“From the Antique” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
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Dialogue
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Allusion
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Alliteration
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“From the Antique” 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.
- Antique
- Weary
- Doubly blank
- A woman's lot
- Pole to pole
- Wag
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “From the Antique”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“From the Antique” Speaker
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“From the Antique” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “From the Antique”
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More “From the Antique” Resources
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External Resources
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Portraits of Rossetti — See some images of Rossetti from London's National Portrait Gallery.
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Rossetti's Feminism — Read a short article discussing Rossetti's approach to issues of gender and power.
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Rossetti's Notebooks — See images of the small, elegant notebooks in which Rossetti copied out final drafts of her poems.
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A Brief Biography — Read the Poetry Foundation's overview of Rossetti's life and work.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Christina Rossetti
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