Critical appreciation of the poem “Uphill” written by C.G.Rossetti.

 

 

Uphill

Does the road wind up-hill all the way? 

Yes, to the very end.  
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day? 
From morn to night, my friend.

 

But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
You cannot miss that inn.

 

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
They will not keep you standing at that door.

 
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.

About the Poetess :

Christina Georgina Rossetti (C.G.Rossetti) had   a strong religious bent from her early girlhood and it found expression in her poems. Not many poems she wrote, but that limited number  bears the testimony that Rossetti was a devout Christian who got inspiration from within, from her faith. C.G.Rossetti was the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (D.G.Rossetti), the leader of the Pre Raphaelite Movement in the 19^th century. Rossetti is by far a religious poetess.

 

Critical appreciation:

“Uphill” , a devotional poem, was published in the” Goblin Market and Other Poems” and it is a product of Rossetti’s profound belief in God. This poem is a sort of ‘Catechism’ captured in rhyme and rhythm, as eight questions are asked and properly answered in this verse. Who questions in this poem? Actually, a person having no divine knowledge asks the question to a person who is divinely inspired. It may be a question-answer exercise between the ‘self’ and the ‘soul’. The poet’s self may involve with her conscience in this question-answer series. However, this Catechism is performed in a clear mental state, a state touched with spiritualism.

The life of human being may be equated with uphill journey that involves a hard labour for whole day, from morning to night: “From morn to night, my friend.” After the hard montane  journey a person finds an inn for taking rest, he also gets chance to meet the other travellers who have reached the inn before that person. He is readily welcomed in the inn, is not detained at the door of the inn. This weak and travel sore traveller is provided with comfortable and warm bed at the resting place. This is the story of human life. The eternal question of a human being is what is in store in our life at the ultimate moment , the end of our life. This may not be the quest of a person who is too much addicted to this mundane matters, who has drunk the crude and blatant life to the lee. Those persons who are thoroughly consumerist have no time ‘to stand and stare’ and search and feel the true objective of human life. The question must dawn in that mind which is, at least, soaked with the heavenly sap.

The poem “Uphill” has dispelled some questions of some pendulous minds. To confer the allegorical meaning the poet has taken help of some symbols which are very  clear in meaning and common in use. ‘Uphill’ stands for the ‘life of human being’, ‘day’s journey’ means ‘the whole life’, ‘morn’ and ‘night’ symbolize ‘the birth’ and ‘the death’ respectively. ‘Dark hour’ is nothing but the ‘death’ and ‘inn’ stands for the ‘heavenly abode’. The term ‘other wayfarers’ symbolizes ‘those person who died before’ and ‘comfort’ stands for ‘the peace of the departed soul’. Here ‘bed’ is not the ordinary bed, it is the ‘resting place’ in paradise and the ‘lap of God’ for those who have earned good fortune by following the path paved by the true religious regulation.

The poetess who is full of optimism, a true credent of our ‘divine father’, the God has not desponded us, she has rather kindled our mind with the bright ray of divine hope. The interesting point is that  a righteous person starts attaining the grace of God even in this life ‘when the slow dark hours begin’, in time of our death and we can clearly see from distance the sight of the inn. Above all, God ,our original father, the ‘Parampita’, is always  ready to accept us and for this our entrance to heaven is not delayed or obstructed. Our beds which we once left in heaven for the sojourn in this world are kept intact and we are allotted those beds as soon as we step to heaven. Getting back our beds on which we were wonted to sleep we regain comfort and peace beyond measure.   

Critical Comments:

This poem is not long, but in this little stature it makes us know about the philosophy of life with the help of some simple images. The image of hilly road, of the resting place, of the moving wayfarers and their travel-sore condition are very accurate . The images serve in some way the allegorical aspects. Here the travelers are  the pilgrims of life and the uphill journey is  allegorically the journey of the life of human beings.