Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems

Fruit offered by goblin merchants divides two sisters beside a brook: Lizzie mistrusts the gifts, but Laura gives up a curl of hair for a taste. Rossetti sets this encounter among baskets, animal faces and lavish descriptions of orchard produce. The sisters' household tasks continue afterward, yet Laura's longing pulls her thoughts back toward the strange sellers. Ordinary rural life and unsettling fantasy occupy the same landscape.

The volume combines collections first published in 1862 and 1866 with additional poems. Alongside the story poems are shorter lyrics and devotional pieces, including a portrait of a woman devoted to caring for the poor. In "Dream-Love," flowers and changing seasons surround a sleeping figure, while "Twice" turns from a rejected declaration of love toward God. Readers interested in the connections between faith, longing and seasonal imagery can trace those concerns across poems with different lengths and forms.