' She kissed and kissed her with a hungry mouth '
When I first knew this stunning series published by Penguin, I immediately searched it on the internet to buy it. After doing some deep-searching, I finally found 2 online stores based on my domicile that have it. So, I contact the owner and got two books from this series.
Actually, the Penguin Publishers published 127 books for the Little Black Classics (LBC). But, since the stores only got few titles, so I chose Goblin Market and The Wife of Bath (stay tuned for the review!).
It took me some time to understand this whole book, but basically most of the book was about Goblin Market. This book is a snippet poetry collection by Christina Rossetti. The truth is that I never heard about her name before and I chose this book based on the synopsis and the short quotes that the LBC website give. Surprisingly, the book is beyond my expectations!
Just like what I have mentioned, the book is dominated by Goblin Market, which is one of the most popular poetry Rossetti has written. Here is my short interpretation of Rossetti's amazing work.
Goblin Market
The Goblin Market is a poetry that tells a tale of two sisters. One named Lizzie and others named Laura. The poems start with the goblin cry to offer their fruits. The fruits here were described very detailed and I assume the fruits have a connection with the bible's origin of sin. Lizzie always warned her sisters not to hear the offer because the charms are very harmful.
'No,' said Lizzie: 'No, no, no;
Their offers should not charm us
Their evil gifts would harm us
-stanza 3, Goblin Market
Lizzie kept her ears shut and ran, while her sister chose to stay and looked at the goblin. The goblin got Laura's attention and try to sell her their fruits. But here in the lines it described that Laura had no money, so she trade her hair as the payment for the fruits. The hair here explained how in that time, women were seen as an object.
'You have much gold upon your head,'
They answer'd all together
-stanza 6, Goblin Market
also at the sixth stanza, it was explained that she taste the fruit and sucked it until her mouth went sore, I really assuming this one is about a sexual activity-since Laura and Lizzie were maidens. After that 'fruit' tasting Laura went home and met her sister said that, 'it is no good for maidens to come home so late', then followed by some flashback about Jeanie.
Skip to the twentieth stanza where Laura met the goblin to buy some of their fruit to save her sister. Different from Laura, who paid the fruit with a piece of hair, here Lizzie paid the fruit with a real penny. This is the most ironic and iconic part of the poems. It was written that the goblin tried to make Lizzie stayed, but then she refused. She said, 'if they don't want to sell her any so return her penny'. The goblin went mad and forced her to eat the fruit, but she kept closing her mouth so the water sprayed all over her face.
Held her hands and squeez’d their fruits
Against her mouth to make her eat.
-stanza 20, Goblin Market
After that encounter with the goblin, she went home and met her sister. With her (Lizzie's) face fulled with the fruit's water, Laura kissed her and consumed the water so she is healed.
In the end of the poems, Lizzie remembers her sister bravery to save her from death, also, followed by Rossetti's quote,
“For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands.”
-stanza 29, Goblin Market
I think that sisters what Rossetti meant was women supporting women. After all, Goblin Market is a great poetry about feminism and women in that era. The way the goblin treated Lizzie is a good representation about rape and how we can't speak up about it (read stanza 21), and it is still an issue in the 21st century.
Conclusion
I think this LBC series from Penguin really helpful for people who wanted to read classics but still don't know where to start. It is very affordable and a good source for writer, also it's a great reference for us who wanted to know more classics writer. Actually, this is my first book from the series, and I really enjoy it.
Here's my final rating for the whole book.
Full collection of Penguin Little Black Classics: https://www.littleblackclassics.com/list.html
Where to buy Goblin Market in Indonesia:
Read the full version of Goblin Market for free: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44996/goblin-market
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