As a compliment to this problem, she cries out, “why is earth set so remote?” Both of these things are working against her. She knows it exists and experiences its pull but also feels as if it is completely out of her reach. She begins by mourning the fact that “heaven built so far” away. As the title of the poem states, “ de profundis,” is about the speaker’s deepest feelings of sorrow and need and this is what the speaker will be discussing. The speaker of this piece, perhaps Rossetti herself, begins the poem with her deepest desire. She knows that her bonds on Earth will keep her from reaching heaven but she cannot stop hoping. ‘De Profundis’ concludes with the speaker saying that she is doing all of the spiritual and physical reachings that she is able to, and still all is beyond her grasp. She is unable to look at the sun or the stars and not feel mournful over her situation. She speaks of how her passion for heaven haunts her. It teases and torments her in it’s unchanging “tune.” The speaker is frustrated by the fact that even if she wanted to, she could not reach the “monotonous” round, moon. She is unable to even get close to the “nearest star” in the sky, much less God.

It is as if all factors of God and man are working against her. As well as the fact that Earth is “set so remote” from heaven.

The poem begins with the speaker bemoaning the fact that “heaven built so far” from the confines of Earth. “ De Profundis” by Christina Rossetti describes a speaker’s longing for the joy and beauty of heaven and the impossibility of reaching it during one’s lifetime.

R.I.P. De Profundis by Eilan Moon