CHAPTER ONE .sx When Christina Rossetti was born on 5 December 1830 , Elizabeth Barrett was twenty-four , already a published poet , and Emily Bront e , immersed in the imaginary world of Gondal at Haworth , was twelve .sx Five days after Christina's birth Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst on the other side of the Atlantic .sx These four women , the most frequently anthologised of nineteenth - century women writers , shared more than mere historical proximity .sx They shared the 'double mischief' of the female poet , struggling for credibility in a century when even a gifted author like Willa Cather could write that it was " a very grave question whether women have any place in poetry at " .sx Although they never met , they read each other's work and influenced each other more than has been previously acknowledged .sx They belonged to a wider community of female poets which included Jean Ingelow , Felicia Hemans , Laetitia Landon , Dora Greenwell and Augusta Webster , now unknown , but all celebrated at the time .sx They were all connected together by a complex web of references and borrowings that demonstrate a shared experience of female poetic art .sx They were not , in Emily Dickinson's vivid phrase , to be " shut up in prose .sx " They inherited a shared literary tradition and there are striking parallels , both literary and personal , in their work .sx The poetry of one illuminates the poetry of the others , and to read them all is to be conscious of how much they had in common .sx And when they subvert the masculine literary tradition for their own purposes it is an exhilarating experience .sx Ellen Moers , in her book Literary Women writes that reading the love poetry of Christina Rossetti , Emily Bront e , Elizabeth Barrett and Emily Dickinson together is like " uncorking a bottle of rare wine .sx " .sx Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the oldest of the group and held in such high regard that she was considered for the post of poet laureate when Wordsworth died .sx Her reputation could not be overlooked by the younger women .sx Elizabeth's art transcended her sex and situation .sx Her poetry exhibits the muscularity of a sinuous intellect and the fruits of a determined programme of self education .sx Her long poem Aurora Leigh casts light on the creative rage burning inside her contemporaries and , in particular , Christina Rossetti .sx The rage that divided Christina between the modesty demanded by her religion and her sex and her need to write and be recognised .sx Like Elizabeth Barrett Browning's passionate heroine Aurora Leigh , Christina was both Italian and English .sx Christina's father Gabriele Rossetti was a political refugee who had come to England via Malta in 1824 after a dramatic escape from Naples disguised as an English sailor .sx He kept his Neopolitan nationality until he died .sx For Gabriele politics and patriotism were the " permanent platform of " .sx When he married in 1826 he was forty-three , eighteen years older than his wife Frances .sx She was half-English , the daughter of Gaetano Polidori - another Italian exile - and his English wife Anna .sx Frances Polidori had been brought up in England , baptised as a Protestant and educated to earn her living as a governess .sx She was the epitome of the good Victorian wife - hard working , self effacing and modest to a fault , but it was dearly bought .sx Her son Gabriel told a friend that Frances Rossetti " must have become an important figure in literature " if her remarkable intellectual gifts had not been stifled " in some great degree .sx .. by the exercise of an entire self-abnegation on behalf of her family .sx " .sx There was a strong literary tradition within the family .sx Gaetano Polidori had been secretary to the Italian dramatist Alfieri and was himself an author .sx Frances' favourite brother , John , had been Byron's travelling physician and under the influence of Byron and Mary Shelley had written a gothic novel called The Vampyre .sx Gabriele Rossetti was famous in Italy for his patriotic verses , some of which were still being sung at the time of the First World War .sx He had also published controversial articles and books on Dante and Petrarch , all of which were banned in his native country as being anti-church and in some cases anti-Christian .sx The newly-married Rossettis lived in London at No .sx 38 Charlotte Street , now renamed Hallam Street , a dingy cul-de-sac near Portland Place .sx It was a cramped terraced house in a rather run-down neighbourhood .sx Occasionally the more respectable inhabitants would make an effort to evict some of the dubious characters who lodged there , but without much success .sx The barber's shop , run by a 'local Figaro' , was a source of much complaint , partly because of the indecent posters displayed in the window .sx But the street was cheap , and the Rossettis had very little money .sx Gabriele held the post of Professor of Italian at King's College , London .sx From this and private teaching he earned only two or three hundred pounds a year .sx They were only able to afford one servant , though this was supplemented by a nursemaid when the children were small , and much of the housework and childcare fell on Frances , who was rarely seen during the day without what she called a " pincloth " tied around her waist .sx In the first four years of her married life Frances had four children .sx Maria Francesca in 1827 , followed at yearly intervals by Gabriel Charles Dante , William Michael , and finally in 1830 Christina Georgina .sx They were all delivered by Dr William Locock , afterwards accoucheur to Queen Victoria .sx Gabriele insisted on the best possible attention for his wife , but , in spite of it , Frances Rossetti apparently had a " fearful time " giving birth to Christina , which may explain why there were no more pregnancies .sx All the children were baptised into the Protestant faith .sx Christina's godmother , whose name she was given , was a niece of the great Napoleon , Princess Christina Bonaparte , who was living in England at the time , and had married an Englishman .sx The Bonaparte family , including Louis - the former Napoleon III - were occasional visitors to the Rossetti household , bringing a little glamour to the dingy neighbourhood .sx Other wealthy connections helped out with money from time to time .sx A friend of Coleridge , the Rt Hon John Hookham Frere , who lived in Malta and had helped Gabriele escape to England , sometimes sent fifty or a hundred pounds , and Charles Lyall , a Dante enthusiast living in Scotland , financed Gabriele's publications .sx Apart from financial anxieties the marriage of Gabriele and Frances seems to have been happy :sx the only thing their children remembered them arguing about was religion .sx Gabriele was a lapsed Catholic , who although believing in the teachings of Christ did not believe in the " supernatural and legendary elements " of the Christian faith .sx He was very free with his criticism of the scriptures and fervently anti-Catholic .sx William Rossetti remembered him holding forth on the story of Abraham , when he was ordered by God to sacrifice his beloved only son as a mark of his faith .sx Gabriele declared that if he'd been asked to do the same he would have replied , " You aren't God , you are the Devil " .sx He loved his children , spoiling them with lollipops and sweets prohibited by Frances as " trash" .sx He also wrote poems to them .sx One to Maria and Christina describes them as violets and roses , and beautiful " turtle doves in the nest of love " .sx His main fault was what his son William described as that habit of self opinion " which involves self applause " .sx The children sadly preferred their mother or their maternal grandfather Gaetano .sx Frances , much stricter with the children than her husband , was very devout , and her husband's unorthodox views must have caused her some pain .sx Though her brothers were Catholic , she and her sisters had been brought up in the Protestant evangelical tradition of their English mother .sx They were later attracted by the High Church 'Tractarian' or 'Oxford' movement as it was sometimes called , based on the teachings of John Keble and Thomas Pusey .sx This movement saw the Anglican Church as a true branch of the Holy Catholic Church .sx Conversions to Rome rocked the movement to its foundations form time to time and engendered a deep distrust of Catholicism , particularly of its cult of the Virgin Mary .sx Family differences about religion and the continual divisions between Catholic and Anglican made a very deep impression on Christina as a child .sx The family was otherwise a lively , unconventional and very Italian household .sx Although the children talked English to their mother , Italian was always spoken in the presence of their father and grandfather .sx William , the family historian , later recalled the house full of " exiles , patriots , politicians , literary men , musicians .sx .. fleshy good natured Neopolitans , keen Tuscans , emphatic Romans " .sx They crowded into the small sitting room in the evenings , arguing and gesticulating .sx One of the more colourful characters who came to the house , a sculptor called Sangiovanni , was a bigamist and had apparently assassinated a man in Calabria .sx He made a paperweight for Christina which she kept until she died .sx Another friend from Italy brought her a locket of the Virgin and infant Christ set in mother-of-pearl .sx The children were rarely asked to leave the room , whatever conspiracy was under discussion .sx They played on the hearth rug or under the table and were never segregated from the adults as other English middle class children were .sx None of the children grew up to be even vaguely interested in politics .sx There was hardly any contact with other English families at all .sx The only children who came to the house were the offspring of Cipriano Potter , a friend of Gabriele's who was the Principal of the Royal Academy of Music .sx He was married to a pianist who moved in very fashionable circles and could have given Frances Rossetti an entr e e into society if she had wished it .sx Their two sons and two daughters were of a similar age to the Rossetti children , but they had little in common .sx They also played occasionally with the children of another musician , Signor Rovedino , who gave Maria singing lessons , but these occasions were rare .sx Like the Bront e children , the young Rossettis were dependent upon themselves for occupation and amusement , only one of the " many points of resemblance " which contemporaries observed between the two families .sx The closeness of the children , their non-English heritage , their literary activities and the parallels between Branwell and Dante Gabriel can all bear comparison .sx There was the usual sibling rivalry between the Rossetti children as their personalities began to develop .sx Maria , who could read Italian and English fluently by the age of five , was the eldest and most intellectually precocious of the four .sx She was also the least imaginative and was inclined to be jealous , particularly of Christina who was prettier and livelier than she was .sx Maria had a strong personality , a rich impressive voice and an imposing physical presence .sx She was dark complexioned , Italian looking - apparently taking after Gabriele's mother - and was considered to be extremely plain , even by her family .sx Christina nicknamed her Moon , or Moony , because of her round face and contemplative habit .sx Maria was very devout , even as a child , and shortly after her confirmation at the age of thirteen seems to have felt the call of a vocation .sx Religion became the chief concern of her life , her days revolving around prayer and little acts of service to others .sx Her brother William viewed Maria's influence on Christina with misgiving - feelings shared later by others .sx Maria's " hard , convinced mind " and narrow outlook worked on Christina's sensitive and imaginative disposition in a restrictive way .sx The eldest son Gabriel , who later chose to be known as Dante , was an engaging , spirited little boy who became the dominant member of the family , hot tempered and proud of his precocious artistic talent .sx His first sketches were made before he was five and the family decided that he should be trained to be an artist .sx He often teased Christina to the point where she was forced to call on William to defend her .sx Gabriel and Christina were known as the 'two storms' , inheriting their volatile Italian temperaments from their father .sx Christina was the more fractious of the two , passionate and given to terrible tantrums .sx