I made this post separate because my comments are about the person rather than about the poetry. I thought Christina’s life was fascinating. Wikipedia has a detailed biographical summary. She was the daughter of a poet and political exile from Italy. In other words she was exposed to intellectual stimulation and debate. She left school at 14 after a nervous breakdown and then became heavily devoted with her mother to the Anglo-Catholic Church. She also turned down marriage proposals. Her other siblings were also writers, and she modeled for her brother’s paintings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Rossetti
I also found it interesting how many cultural references there are to Goblin Market. Check out the very long list on the Wikipedia entry specific to the poem. Here is a fun and surprising tidbit that I discovered in my research. Even J.K. Rowling was influenced by Rossetti in her Cormoran Strike series.
http://www.mugglenet.com/2017/09/lit...ssettis-dirge/