Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830-1894
Christina Georgina Rossetti was born in London, the daughter of Gabriele Rossetti, an Italian patriot who came to England in 1824, and sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet. Christina was educated at home by her mother and showed early inclinations towards poetry.
Her other brother, William Michael Rossetti, edited The Gem, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood periodical, to which she contributed the poems An End and Dream Lane in the first number under a pseudonym. Her first major collection was Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), followed by The Prince's Progress (1866), Sing-Song (1872), A Pageant and Other Poems (1881), and Time Flies: A Reading Diary (1885).
Dogged by ill-health for a large part of her life, deeply religious and serious minded, much of her poetry has a wistful, spiritual quality but displays a high level of technical ability and sincerity.