Question

Which of Rossetti’s poems was first published in The Germ, the Pre-Raphaelite journal?

• A. Eden Bower
• B. The Stream’s Secret
• C. The Blessed Damozel
• D. Sister Helen

Answer 1

Answer:

C. The Blessed Damozel

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) and 'The Germ'

• The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848.
• Key members included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens, and Thomas Woolner.
• The PRB aimed to reform art by rejecting what they saw as the mechanistic impetus of the Royal Academy of Arts, which they believed had been acting since the time of Raphael.
• They sought to return to the intense detail and vivid colour of Italian Quattrocento art, before the High Renaissance.
• 'The Germ' was a short-lived magazine published by the PRB between January and April 1850, appearing in four quarterly numbers.
• It was intended as a vehicle to promote the ideas and works of the Brotherhood.
• The magazine featured contributions from various PRB members, including poetry, essays, and art criticism.

'The Blessed Damozel' and Dante Gabriel Rossetti

• 'The Blessed Damozel' is one of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's most famous poems.
• It was first published in the inaugural issue of The Germ in January 1850, under the title For a Picture in a Dream at Scrivener's Workshop.
• The poem depicts a deceased woman in Heaven longing for her lover on Earth.
• It is a seminal work of the Pre-Raphaelite literary movement, embodying their characteristic themes of medievalism, intense emotion, and vivid imagery.
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a central figure in the PRB, known for both his poetry and his painting.
• His literary works often drew inspiration from his paintings, and vice versa.
• The publication of 'The Blessed Damozel' in 'The Germ' marked a significant early contribution by Rossetti to the PRB's literary output.