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Maude Clare
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Ballad
Maude Clare is a clear example of the 'ballad' form of poetry.
Its conventional form is that of a poem in quatrains, utilising lines that alternate between Iambic Tetrameter and Trimeter and follow an alternating rhyme scheme.
The most important feature is that the ballad is primarily a narrative-based form of poetry, as opposed to the emotion-based lyric poem.
The focus therefore is on character development and interaction, something distinct from the poems we have covered so far.
Characterisation
Empathy
How does Rossetti characterise Maude Clare, Nell and Sir Thomas?
How does she reinforce, and ironically present, the gaps in status and position between the three?
Which character do we have the most empathy for in the poem - and why?
How does the narrative reinforce this?
Maude Clare's 'Gifts'
Changes for Publication
One of the most important aspects of the poem is the series of gifts that Maude Clare offers the new couple.
Explore the symbolism of them, one at a time to identify the specific issues and references being made
The original poem was 41 stanzas long, before being chopped down to its current length.
What do you think it contained?
Floriography
The Victorian period gave a lot of attention and meaning to the 'language' of flowers - what they implied and represented.
The lily is a particularly polysemic flower - simultaneously representing Femininity, Love, Purity and Transience/Death.
It might be worth looking at the specific meanings of the flowers throughout Rossetti's poetry as a means of revision.
Ballad Style
Extra Empathy
By all accounts the extended version of the poem used the extra length to increase the amount of empathy allowed for Maude Clare herself.
Do you think this is necessary?
As an added contextual detail - the ballad had been somewhat repopularised in the late Romantic/Early Victorian period by poets like Keats and Tennyson.
Not only did the style tend to be similar, but the content as well - have a look at this poem by Tennyson - Mariana.
Maude Clare
L.O. - To understand and evaluate the impact of structure and style on meaning and contextual factors