A Rather Clumsy Review of Sorts

Jotting this quick book recommendation before attending to baby...A Choice of Christina Rosetti's Verse. 

I found a slim copy of Christina Rossetti's poetry, in a dusty used-books shop. Passively opened to a random page, skimmed..stopped. Time froze. Her poetry is just glorious. 

Simple, firstly--exactly to my taste. Elegant, skilful, unpretentious verses.

That was last year, I think, and every time I come back to it, it reads fresh as ever.

It holds so much poignancy with powerful, simple 'strokes,' it's kind of magical. Your brain fills in the gaps, but you aren't forced to navel-gaze, it's an easy jaunt. The mood is often sombre, but that gliding, graceful writing makes it more than bearable, actually quite soothing. When I am feeling desperately down about things, her poems manage to take the edge off.

Teenagers would really enjoy her pieces, I think. I know Emily Dickinson alienated a lot of kids in my class back in the day. Rossetti is what dear E.D. is only hyped to be, and mainly by high school teachers... I'm sure it's littered with cliches, at least in theme. But...so what? Love is cliche, blueberry picking, and kissing my baby's fragrant fuzzy head is too. 

Do people actually enjoy reading biographies of writers? It spoils the work for me, at least for a moment. 

I don't want to delve into their affairs, beliefs, denture bills... It's irrelevant to me. Just want to take the piece and devour it--"you cannot think what figs/my teeth have met in"! Haha! Anyway, for the purposes of this post, I did do a bit of research into her life story, but quickly left it off. 

I really, really don't care. The work speaks for itself and leaves you satisfied. 

(I guess the only poet whose biography I have enjoyed far more than her work, was that Edna St. Vincent Millay. Savage Beauty, I think?)