Vigil of St Bartholomew

Barholomew was said to be the sixth of Jesus’s twelve apostles. His feast day is 24th August. According
to tradition he is said to have been skinned alive and executed as punishment for spreading the gospel.
Rossetti in the poem depicts the vigil that marks his martyrdom.

The poem is unusual for Rossetti in that it is markedly positive and peaceful. This is in contrast to much
of her religious poetry which is mournful and expresses longing for death. Rossetti was in poor health for
much of her adult life and suffered depression, believed now to be the result of what was probably a
thyroid condition. The tone of this poem, however, is gentle, focusing on the feelings of the vigilant
people at prayer.

Sonnet structure

A Sonnet is a poem which expresses a thought or idea and develops it, often cleverly and wittily. It is
made up of 14 lines, each being 10 syllables long. Its rhymes are arranged according to one of the
following schemes:

Italian, where eight lines consisting of two quatrains make up the first section of the sonnet, called an
octave. This will open the the poem with a question or an idea. It is followed by the next section of six
lines called a sestet, that forms the ‘answer’ or a counter-view. This style of sonnet is also sometimes
called a Petrarchan sonnet.

English which comprises three quatrains, making twelve lines, followed by a rhyming couplet.
Shakespeare’s sonnets follow this pattern. Edmund Spenser’s sonnets are a variant.

At the break in the sonnet — in Italian after the first eight lines, in English after twelve lines — there is a
‘turn’ or volta, after which there will be a change or new perspective on the preceding idea.

Structure of “Vigil of St Bartholomew”

This follows the template of a Petrachan sonnet, with the volta at line eight/nine.

Rhyme Scheme
Rossetti chose a rhyme scheme that follows the pattern ABBA, ABBA, CDE EDC, adhering strictly to the
sonnet template. Note that lines eleven and twelve are consonantly rhymed.

Language

The voice is that of the poet, addressing God as if in prayer. The tone is serious and thoughtful, but
positive. The metre is iambic pentameter, stately and rhythmic, that conveys an impression of dignity
and seriousness. Shakespeare’s sonnets follow this pattern. This sonnet is characterised by repetition
forming a refrain or anaphora at the beginning of the first four lines.

The poem opens like a prayer, addressing “Lord”. The request to God is generous on the part of the poet,
seeking His care for those who pray. There is a contradiction in the reference to ‘hearts strung to prayer,
awake while eyelids sleep.“ So, the closed eyes are not a reflection of their wakeful hearts. The use of
"strung” is unexpected, a mark of Rossetti’s ability to surprise the reader.

Rossetti invokes Jesus’s parable of the wise virgins, which may be subject to interpretation, but what is
important here is the theme of preparedness and viruous living.

The parable is one of a sequence of responses to a question in Matthew 24:

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us, when shall
these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

— Matthew 24:3, King James Version

Other parables in this sequence include the parable of the budding fig tree (Matthew 24:32–35) and the
parable of the Faithful Servant (Matthew 24:42–51). The parable of the Ten Virgins reinforces the call for
readiness in the face of the uncertain time of this second "coming."[2] It has been described as a
"watching parable."[5] Like the parable of the Lost Coin, it is a parable about women which immediately
follows, and makes the same point as, a preceding parable about men.[note 1]

The Devotional Poetry and Prose of Christina Rossetti

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10100049/1/Letter_and_spirit_The_devotio.pdf
This painting by Hieronymus Francken the Younger (c. 1616) gives a moralistic interpretation of the
parable.

Along with most early Christian interpreters of this parable,[6] some today continue to understand it as
an allegory, whereby Jesus Christ is the bridegroom,[2][5] echoing the Old Testament image of God as
the bridegroom in Jeremiah 2:2 and similar passages,[2] and the virgins are the Christians.[7] The
awaited event is the Second Coming of Christ.[2][5] Other elements in the story, e.g., lamps, oil, delay of
the bridegroom, and exclusion of the foolish virgins from the celebration, also often take on various
meanings. R. T. France writes that the parable is "a warning addressed specifically to those inside the
professing church who are not to assume that their future is unconditionally assured."[2]

This story in its present form in Matthew seems to be an allegory, at least in its implied identification of
the bridegroom as the Son of Man (cf. 24:44) and reflection of the church’s experience of delay in his
Parousia[8][9][10][11] – although not a full-blown allegory like the Parable of the Sower, where almost
every detail of the story has a hidden meaning.[12] However, it has been argued that its original form,
possibly on the lips of Jesus himself, was likely a narrative parable that simply illustrated the contrasting
outcomes of groups who prepared themselves for uncertain circumstances and those who did not.[13]
[14][15][16]

The parable does not criticise the virgins for sleeping, since both groups do that,[3] but for being
unprepared as they brought no extra oil (it is unclear as to whether the foolish virgins succeed in
purchasing any oil that night:[17] most shops would not have been open[18][19]). The New Testament
scholar, Dan O. Via, considers the story of the bridesmaids as an example of a tragic parable with an
inverted U-shaped plot.[20] The rising action of the parable is the preparation for the coming of the
bridegroom, but a crisis occurs when the bridegroom is delayed. This is the turning point (reversal or
peripety) that leads to disaster.

The parable is not written in praise of virginity,[5] and indeed Louis of Granada, in his The Sinner's Guide
of 1555, writes "No one makes intercession with the Bridegroom for the five foolish virgins who, after
despising the pleasures of the flesh and stifling in their hearts the fire of concupiscence, nay, after
observing the great counsel of virginity, neglected the precept of humility and became inflated with
pride on account of their virginity."[21]
The sonnet is notable for its rhythmic and balanced lines. LIne five is particularly lyrical, with its
alliterative“v"s and perfect iambic pentameter.

These lines are seeking from God the rewards for devotion; hence “sow” and “reap”. Rossetti employs a
range of devices.
— The repetition of “sow” and “sowers” is an example of polyptoton, the word presented in different
forms, here a verb and a noun.

— The juxtaposition of two opposites, “sow” and “reap”.

— Alliterative “tr"s in "tread” and “track”.

— The repetition of “deep” in line seven, contrasting the feelings of humans with the “vaster deep” of
God.

Throughout, Rossetti retains the gentle rhythmic flow that gives the poem its soothing quality.

The reference to “Paradise” ends this part of the sonnet, forming the volta and beginning a change in
direction.

The volta marks a change of tone, now an exclamatory address direct to those who are praying. Rossetti
is sparing with exclamation marks, but here she inserts one for emphasis.

There are a triplet of phrases that describe those in prayer, each beginning with “so”, forming a refrain or
anaphora. These create emphasis. A semantic field of related adjectives — “patient”, “calm” and “rapt”
create a clear picture of the uplifting effect of the vigil on the faithful.

Another balanced line juxtaposes the opposites “withheld” and “given”. This leads up to the resolution in
the last two lines.

The conclusion is formed by an unrhymed couplet. This forms a dramatic climax in which the devotees
and Christ are merged. The idea is striking; that of the love of Christ transforming those who pray.

And so Rossetti presents the reader with a positive view of religious devotion, seemingly reflecting her
own inner peace. It is heartening to know that her difficult life was lightened sometimes.