ABSTRACT
JOHNSTON’s work, the earlier of the two, posits a tension between the flesh and the spirit as the key to a successful reading of the poetry, and as the inspiration for Rossetti’s best work. However it manifests itself-the figures of Beatrice, Mary, and Love representing the spirit, for example, or the figures of Helen and Lilith representing the flesh-this tension gives a consistency to all of Rossetti’s work, despite the darkening tone and the narrowing range, which characterize the later poems. Johnston, after a biographical overview, arranges his book into an approximately chronological survey, starting with the Italian background and then moving through the sonnets of The House of Life (two chapters), the narrative poems, and the final works. Rossetti, he argues, lacked objectivity and the ability to believe and commit; thus he failed to achieve transcendence, so that his greatest gift came to be his ability to inspire later poets such as the Aesthetes and, most particularly, W.B.Yeats.
