DSC 101:1.7- Pre- Raphaelite Poetry (1) 26,
Pre-Raphaelite poetry, originating in the mid-19th century as part of the wider Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood movement, sought to revive the spirit of medieval art and literature, emphasizing a return to nature, beauty, and spiritual symbolism. An artistic movement founded in 1848 by the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the painters John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, who is often credited with the group’s name, which indicates not a dismissal of the Italian painter Raphael, but rejection of strict aesthetic adherence to the principles of composition and light characteristic of his style. The Pre-Raphaelites’ commitment to sincerity, simplicity, and moral seriousness is evident in the contemplative but uncomplicated subjects of its poetry (as in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “The Woodspurge”) and in the religious, mythical, and literary subjects depicted in its paintings. Christina Rossetti was both a close associate and critic of the group; her poem “Dream Land” was publi...
