“Sister Maude” Summary

“Sister Maude” Themes

• 

  Sibling Rivalry

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• 

  The Dangerous Power of Passion

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Sister Maude”

• Lines 1-4

  Who told my mother of my shame,
  Who told my father of my dear?
  Oh who but Maude, my sister Maude,
  Who lurked to spy and peer.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Cold he lies, as cold as stone,
  With his clotted curls about his face:
  The comeliest corpse in all the world
  And worthy of a queen's embrace.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  You might have spared his soul, sister,
  Have spared my soul, your own soul too:
  Though I had not been born at all,
  He'd never have looked at you.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  My father may sleep in Paradise,
  My mother at Heaven-gate:
  But sister Maude shall get no sleep
  Either early or late.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-22

  My father may wear a golden crown,
  My mother a crown may win;
  If my dear and I knocked at Heaven-gate
  Perhaps they'd let us in:
  But sister Maude, oh sister Maude,
  Bide
  you
  with death and sin.

  

  

  

  

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“Sister Maude” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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“Sister Maude” 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.

• Lurked
• Clotted
• Comeliest
• Bide

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sister Maude”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Sister Maude” Speaker

“Sister Maude” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Sister Maude”

More “Sister Maude” Resources

• External Resources

  • Rossetti's Portraits — See images of Rossetti throughout her life, from young poetic wunderkind to established literary giant.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to actor Harriet Walter performing the poem.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Christina Rossetti through the Poetry Foundation.

  • More Rossetti Resources — Find a wealth of information on Rossetti at the Victorian Web.

  • Goblin Market — Take a look at an early edition of Goblin Market and Other Poems, the collection in which "Sister Maude" first appeared.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Christina Rossetti

  • A Birthday

  • An Apple Gathering

  • Babylon the Great

  • Cousin Kate

  • Echo

  • From the Antique

  • Good Friday

  • In an Artist's Studio

  • In the Round Tower at Jhansi, June 8, 1857 (Indian Mutiny)

  • Maude Clare

  • No, Thank You, John

  • Remember

  • Shut Out

  • Soeur Louise de la Miséricorde

  • Song (When I am dead, my dearest)

  • Twice

  • Up-Hill

  • Winter: My Secret