Viola and Olivia are characters in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Viola, separated from her twin brother Sebastain after a shipwreck off the coast of Illyria, disguises herself as a youth named Cesario and becomes the page of Duke Orsino. The Duke is in love with Olivia, and sends the disguised Viola (who is in love with the Duke) to woe Olivia for him. The first stanza alludes to this encounter in Act I scene v. Olivia falls in love with Viola/Cesario and, later in the play, marries Sebastian (whom she believes to be Cesario). After a series of revelations, the play closes with the Duke stating his intentions to marry Viola, followed by the Clown's song.
In his introduction to the 1901 facsimile of The Germ, William Michael Rossetti says:
"The verses are not of much significance. The etching by Deverell, however defective in technique, claims more attention, as the Viola was drawn from Miss Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, whom Deverell had observed in a bonnet-shop some few months before the etching was done, and who in 1860 became the wife of Dante Rossetti. This face does not give much idea of hers, and yet it is not unlike her in a way. The face of Olivia bears some resemblance to Christina Rossetti: I think however that it was drawn, not from her, but from a sister of the artist" (25).
A Dialogue, by John Orchard
"On a Whit-sunday Morn in the Month of May", by John Orchard
"Modern Giants", by "Laura Savage" (Stephens)
"To the Castle Ramparts", by William Michael Rossetti
"Pax Vobis", by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
"A Modern Idyl", by Walter H. Deverell
"Jesus Wept", by William Michael Rossetti
Sonnets for Pictures, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Papers of "The M.S. Society", by John Tupper
"The Evil Under the Sun", by William Michael Rossetti
William Michael Rossetti wrote the sonnet in August of 1849. In his
introduction to the 1901 facsimile of The Germ he explains that he
wrote the sonnet
"when the great cause of the Hungarian insurrection against Austrian tyranny
was, like revolutionary movements elsewhere, precipitating towards its
fall. My original title for the sonnet was, 'For the General Oppression of
the Better by the Worse Cause, Autumn 1849.' When the verse had to be
published in 'The Germ,' a magazine which did not aim at taking any side in
politics, it was thought that this title was inappropriate, and the other
was substituted. At a much later date the sonnet was reprinted with yet
another and more significant title, 'Democracy Downtrodden'" (27).
Reviews: Christmas Eve and Easter Day, by William Michael Rossetti
Robert Browning's Christmas Eve and Easter Day is a long,
octosyllabic, irregularly rhymed poem in two parts. "Christmas Eve" is a
narrative which combines visionary and realistic elements. It presents
denominational religion as an imperfect medium for divine truth, and
emphasizes the necessity of choosing one's own best method for worship.
"Easter Day" is a dialogue which explores the difficulties of maintaining
the Christian faith and argues that doubt is essential to faith. The poem
was published on April 1, 1850 and sold for six shillings. 200 copies (out
of approximately 1000) were sold before April 15, but sales slowed
tremendously, in spite of William Michael Rossetti's praise, and the
publishers, Chapman and Hall, were left with a great many copies on their
hands.
While William Rossetti was not alone in praising the volume, most
reviews were ambivalent (offering guarded or back-handed compliments) and
some were openly hostile:
See also:
In his introduction to the 1901 facsimile of The Germ, William
Michael Rossetti comments on his review of Browning:
"The only observation I need make upon this review-- which was merely
intended as introductory to a fuller estimate of the poem, to appear in an
ensuing number of 'The Germ'-- is that it exemplifies that profound cultus
of Robert Browning which, commenced by Dante Rossetti, had permeated the
whole of the Preraphaelite Brotherhood, and formed not less than some other
ideas, a bond of union among them" (27).