Blog Entry 2.1:The Forbidden Fruits: Goblin Market

"Goblin Market"
by Christina Rossetti

Morning and evening
Maids heard the goblins cry:
'Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy:
Apples and quinces,
Lemons and oranges,
Plump unpecked cherries,
Melons and raspberries,
Bloom-down-cheeked peaches,
Swart-headed mulberries,
Wild free-born cranberries,
Crab-apples, dewberries,
Pine-apples, blackberries,
Apricots, strawberries;--
All ripe together
In summer weather,--
Morns that pass by,
Fair eves that fly;
Come buy, come buy:
Our grapes fresh from the vine,
Pomegranates full and fine,
Dates and sharp bullaces,
Rare pears and greengages,
Damsons and bilberries,
Taste them and try:
Currants and gooseberries,
Bright-fire-like barberries,
Figs to fill your mouth,
Citrons from the South,
Sweet to tongue and sound to eye;
Come buy, come buy.'

Evening by evening
Among the brookside rushes,
Laura bowed her head to hear,
Lizzie veiled her blushes:
Crouching close together
In the cooling weather,
With clasping arms and cautioning lips,
With tingling cheeks and finger tips.
'Lie close,' Laura said,
Pricking up her golden head:
'We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?'
'Come buy,' call the goblins
Hobbling down the glen.
'Oh,' cried Lizzie, 'Laura, Laura,
You should not peep at goblin men.'
Lizzie covered up her eyes,
Covered close lest they should look;
Laura reared her glossy head,
And whispered like the restless brook:
'Look, Lizzie, look, Lizzie,
Down the glen tramp little men.
One hauls a basket,
One bears a plate,
One lugs a golden dish
Of many pounds weight.
How fair the vine must grow
Whose grapes are so luscious;
How warm the wind must blow
Through those fruit bushes.'
'No,' said Lizzie, 'No, no, no;
Their offers should not charm us,
Their evil gifts would harm us.'
She thrust a dimpled finger
In each ear, shut eyes and ran:
Curious Laura chose to linger
Wondering at each merchant man.
One had a cat's face,
One whisked a tail,
One tramped at a rat's pace,
One crawled like a snail,
One like a wombat prowled obtuse and furry,
One like a ratel tumbled hurry skurry.
Lizzie heard a voice like voice of doves
Cooing all together:
They sounded kind and full of loves
In the pleasant weather.

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Archetypes are often used in poetry to represent the personality of a person and reflect his or her psychological state.  This is a very effective way to reveal the state of mind of a character and this is what Christina Rossetti does in her mysterious poem Goblin Market.  This poem tells the story of two sisters who are struggling with temptation which is considered a sin represented by the archetype of fruit. The sweetness of this food is opposed to the evil that it hides by being sold by gobblins who are creatures of doom and disaster.

The first verse of this poem focuses on the way the gobblins tempt young maids to come and buy the delicious fruits they are selling. They say “come buy our orchard fruits/ come buy, come buy:” These horrible creatures offer “ripe”, fresh, juicy  and sweet fruit such as cherries, pine apples, oranges, raspberries and melons among other kinds of tasty treats that are irresistible especially “In summer weather”. The fruit that the little monsters offer represents the forbidden desires of this world. In religious terms an apple was the temptation that caused Adam and Eve to fall from grace and be expelled from paradise. In that story, a serpent which was in fact the devil was the evil creature that tempted Eve who was a female just like the two main characters in this poem, Laura and Lizzie. The temptation that is represented by the fruit in the poem could be the desire for sex which was seen as an evil urge that must be resisted by any person, especially young women who are still  often considered impure if they desire sexual satisfaction.

In the poem is clear that Lizzie and Laura are struggling with their desire to taste the forbidden fruits but as Laura warns, “we must not look at goblin men/ we must not buy their fruits:” These words clearly indicate the repressed desires of the young women who are tempted by the dangerous “gifts” the goblin men bring in order to “charm” them. All the women can do is fantasize and wonder “How fair the vine must grow/ whose grapes are so luscious;/ How warm the wind must blow/ through those fruit bushes.”  The women are eager to know what it feels like to give in to temptation. They wonder about the pleasures of the flesh, but the power of society is so strong that Lizzie tells herself “No,no,no:” She realizes that buying the fruit would only bring ruin since the merchant men have the characteristics of animals. “One had a cat’s face,/ One whisked a tail,/ One tramped at a rat’s pace/One crawled like a snail”.  These animal characteristics are a symbolic representation of our most basic instincts that come from our animal nature. Conservative societies usually look down upon these natural impulses which are considered impure and uncivilized.

Although, Lizzie is successful in resisting the temptation of the fruits, Laura is weaker of character and she chooses to stay behind and observe the men who have captured her imagination. She wants to surrender to her lust even though she knows the creatures that sell the fruit are repulsive and wicked.  Her desire is stronger than her morality and fear, so she wants to forget society and its rules and enjoy the pleasure the men bring “In the pleasant weather” which represents her youth.

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblin_Market
http://www.enotes.com/nineteenth-century-criticism/goblin-market-christina-georgina-rossetti
http://www.loudlit.org/audio/goblin/pages/01_01_goblin.htm