In Rossetti poetry, nature is a hugely prominent feature that she uses to reflect her religious views- she was a very strong Anglo-Catholic- and devalue the importance of rituals in Victorian society. The vivid natural imagery also portrays her longing for freedom in a patriarchal society and describes what it would be like. Within this imagery there are strong relations to Keats’s writing, for example the nightingale that can be found in many of Rossetti's poems as well as references to her religion. As a High-Anglican some of her work may appear too sensual or romantic as it was expected of religious women to be reserved and conservative. Overall, Rossetti used nature to explore the freedom she wants and the way her religion impacts her life allowing her to express desires that would otherwise be too explicit for Victorian society.
Rossetti uses the image of birds in her poetry to denote freedom as well as being a symbol for joy. In 'Shut out' the image of songbirds is used to represent "From bough to bough the songbirds crossed/ From flower to flower the moths and bees;” This metaphor is used to show the link between the birds and their home- the trees, and emulate the personas relationship with the garden which may represent a better time in their life. This could perhaps be when God was there and the garden was open to all believers but negativity has consumed the garden, shutting the believers out and replacing the positivity and Gods with darkness and evil. The bird and the trees are a perfect match in life but the birds can fly away and the persona is longing for this freedom and the ability to move on just as the birds can. In this line assonance is used with "bough to bough", this repetition shows the perfect design of nature and the way it surrounds us. In lots of Rossetti's poetry she used the image of nightingales possibly due to being heavily inspired by Keats’s. In 'Song' there is a strong iambic trimeter rhythm but "I shall not hear the nightingale" doesn’t fit that pattern. This change in rhythm is to imitate the way bird has nothing controlling them, they are spontaneous and free. Birds don't fit the rhythm of life and are free and Rossetti changes the rhythm to show this. However, despite having such potential earthly freedoms, the nightingale is "in pain" and Rossetti no longer will feel such pain once dead. In 'Paradise: In a dream' the nightingale imagery is used again "The nightingale herself were cold" this implies that even though in real life the nightingale is the most perfect living creature that even she doesn’t compare to the wonders of the idyllic paradise.
Rossetti presents trees as a metaphor fot religion and Christ. In 'Paradise:In a dream' the first line of the stanza exactly in the middle of the poem is "Tree of life" which is a metaphor Christ on the cross that was prevavlent in medival times. The structure of this line connotes Christ being rhe centre of all perfection and the way everything revolves around him. The 'Tree of life" which we know to be Christ is the reason that such a paradise can be imagined, it provides life. Its also a non-specific phrase and is free from physical constraints-its spiritually pure. In 'Song' Rossetti uses the "Cypress tree" when talking about the personas funeral to symbolise clichés in society and the way they are redundant to her. It suggests Rossetti doesn't need clichés to feel connect to her religion and when she dies she knows her God will be with her regardless of clichés.
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