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Note the 'moral' at the conclusion of Rossetti's poem:

                                                For there is no friend like a sister
                                                In calm or stomy 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.

• In your view, do these remarks serve as a fitting conclusion to Rossetti's poem?  Why or why not?  Is this a poem about sisterhood?  About something else?  Are there other concerns or values in this poem that the moral does not address?

• What is the intended audience for this moral?  In what sort of environment is it (and presumably the entire tale) related?

• How would you describe the tone used by the speaker to describe memories of "[t]hose pleasant days long gone," the "wicked, quaint fruit-merchant men," and "fruits like honey to the throat"?  Is it consistent with the moral stance of the poem as a whole?

On the 'marketplace':

• How is the marketplace represented in this poem?  What are the goblin men and their fruits like?  Why do you think Rossetti chose to represent them in this way?  Might the fruit represent other allegorical qualities?

• What forms of commerce and exchange occur in this market?  Make sure to compare the two instances of exchange (the lock of hair and the penny).  How do they differ?

• Is Rossetti essentially telling us that any foray into the marketplace is compromising for women? Is there a proper and an improper way to engage in relations of exchange?  Or-- could we read this poem as narrating an effort to survive -- and even triumph over -- the perils of the marketplace?

• How does Rossetti portray the relation between the marketplace and the domestic sphere?  What is the sisters' home like?

To conclude:

• How does this poem envision the relation between economic exchange and the expression of desire?  Is this a poem about renunciation? about consumer power?  about aesthetic pleasure -- about beautiful objects?

• How would you describe this poem's conceptions of purity and corruption?  What is its attitude, ultimately, towards sin, pleasure, and sexuality?  Are spirituality and sexuality necessarily opposed terms within it?