Christina Rossetti · first published 1862
A Birthday
Meaning, complete text, stanza guide, vocabulary, techniques and an explained quiz.
What the poem means
The speaker celebrates fulfilled love through images of abundant nature and then calls for an ornate platform worthy of the inward event.
The first stanza searches through bird, apple tree, rainbow shell and finally admits the heart is “gladder” than every comparison; the second commands human craftsmanship. The repeated arrival of love makes the day a personal rebirth rather than merely a date on the calendar.
The poem
Spelling and punctuation follow the checked source edition. Stanza links connect the text to the guide and quiz.
Stanza 1. My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a water'd shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in a halcyon sea; My heart is gladder than all these Because my love is come to me.
Stanza 2. Raise me a dais of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dyes; Carve it in doves and pomegranates, And peacocks with a hundred eyes; Work it in gold and silver grapes, In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys; Because the birthday of my life Is come, my love is come to me.
Stanza guide
Stanzas 1–2
Two stanzas move from organic similes to decorative imperatives. Natural abundance cannot fully measure joy, so the speaker asks artisans to build a visible setting of silk, colour and carved fruit for an emotion already overflowing comparison.
Return to stanza 1 ↑Vocabulary
- halcyon
- calm and peaceful; also a kingfisher-like bird
- dais
- a raised platform for a seat or ceremonial person
- fleur-de-lys
- a stylised lily used as a decorative emblem
Literary techniques
Simile
the heart is compared with bird, tree and shell
Successive comparisons enlarge joy while showing that no image is sufficient.
Imperative
“Raise me a dais” and “hang it”
Commands convert private happiness into ceremony and crafted display.
Rich imagery
silk, purple dyes, doves and fruit
Colour and texture give emotional abundance a material form.
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