Christina Rossetti

-Born in 1830 in London

-Her father, Gabriele Rossetti, was an Italian poet exiled from Italy, and migrated to England in 1824 where he married half-English and half-Italian Frances Polidori

-Youngest of 4 siblings, Maria Francesca, Gabriel Charles Dante, and William Michael

-Wrote her first poem, "To my Mother on her Birthday" when she was 11

-Her first collection, Goblin Market and Other Poems was published in 1862

-The poem I will be analyzing, "No Thank You, John" is part of Goblin Market and Other Poems

-In 1891 she was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1894

"No Thank You, John"

I never said I loved you, John:

Why will you tease me, day by day,

And wax a weariness to think upon

With always "do" and "pray"?

You know I never loved you, John;

No fault of mine made me your toast:

Why will you haunt me with a face as wan

As shows an hour-old ghost?

I dare say Meg or Moll would take

Pity upon you, if you'd ask:

And pray don't remain single for my sake

Who can't perform that task.

I have no heart?—Perhaps I have not;

But then you're mad to take offence

That I don't give you what I have not got:

Use your common sense.

Let bygones be bygones:

Don't call me false, who owed not to be true:

I'd rather answer "No" to fifty Johns

Than answer "Yes" to you.

Let's mar our pleasant days no more,

Song-birds of passage, days of youth:

Catch at to-day, forget the days before:

I'll wink at your untruth.

Let us strike hands as hearty friends;

No more, no less: and friendship's good:

Only don't keep in view ulterior ends,

And points not understood

In open treaty. Rise above

Quibbles and shuffling off and on:

Here's friendship for you if you like; but love,—

No, thank you, John.

Analysis

Rossetti utilizes such a unique style and content choice, which really shocked me. When going into this poem, I was expecting something similar to the poems written by other female writers of the time, something revolving around nature or inner turmoils of a conformist society. But then to read her open and public rejection of a suitor made me smile and I am extremely proud of her in an odd way; sort of like this sisterhood of me wanting her to choose her own path and stand up for herself, which she clearly did. Certain lines, such as, “No fault of mine made me your toast” really stuck with me. Even in today’s society, whenever a woman turns down a man, the man blames the woman and calls her names, claiming she led him on. A huge debate is on whether women should control how they dress and act around men, or if men should just learn to control their impulses. Obviously, the gender role debate was even bigger during Rossetti’s lifetime. Another point on this is when she says, “And pray don’t remain single for my sake / Who can’t perform that task.” He likely held out hope, never taking no for an answer, that she would cave to his incessant portrayals of love and then would blame her for remaining single. From this point in the poem, apparently John started insulting her, saying she has no heart and is “false”, further proving his anger towards her merely because she does not reciprocate his sentiments and will not agree to his proposal. This being an age old debate on if women should conform to men’s desires simply because it’s men and they want it and women are supposed to be these fragile, submissive creatures that faint at the drop of a hat and do as their male counterparts desire. Her boldness and nonchalance really add to the poem and her point as well, saying phrases such as “But you’re mad to take offence / That I don’t give you what I have not got: / Use your common sense.” I am just blown away that she took his insult about her being heartless and turned that back on him, chastising him for taking offense to her not giving him her heart, despite supposedly, according to him, not having a heart to give. It really seems that this John is back and forth, endlessly desiring her and yet showing her his anger and insulting her for not desiring him back. If he was attempting to win her affections and convince her to marry him, would insulting her be the way to go about it? And this is her point. But then just to add some more snarkiness and sass, she says, “I’d rather answer ‘No’ to fifty Johns / Than answer ‘Yes’ to you.” The fact that she so seemingly passively added this just to really drive her point home about her clear disinterest in him, genuinely impresses me. She adds to her impressive streak even more with the last three stanzas. Going from chastising him about how he has treated her and blamed her for everything, to basically throwing intelligent insults back at him, to then offering for them to be friends shows her blatant maturity. Claiming, “Here’s friendship for you if you like; but love, – / No, thank you, John” in the last lines. She totally shoots him down multiple times throughout the poem just to end with this. She was incredibly brave and mature to be able to look past everything and offer friendship, something a lot of women in today’s society probably would not be able to do. But I also feel that this is the sign of a woman. Women have been forced throughout the centuries to do as the man pleases, which naturally makes them more forgiving and patient, enabling women to be able to look past the harshness of man and offer friendship despite everything. Men would never do that; if nothing else, out of sheer pride. Rossetti is an absolute boss in this poem and I am here for it, I love that she so openly is able to share her feelings and not fear the backlash of them. She seems like she would rather remain alone her entire life than be with someone she does not truly care for, something not many people are willing to do. And she did end up alone her entire life but she was happy. She loved her brothers and sister and just spent her time reading and writing like an absolute queen.

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