I wonder if the good folk at the end of the 19th century when this poem was originally published were just too obtuse to understand the gist of Rossetti's work; if so, we have an innocent artifact that has evolved into something erotic because of our twentieth century sensibilities (we have dirtier minds than our compatriots from the past).

Don't let the word "erotica" scare you away. This is not a blatantly sexual work in its language; it is not a "dirty" book. Just understand that despite what anyone else says or writes, this is about as unambiguously EROTIC as you can get. With phrasing like "Eat me, drink me, love me; Laura, make much of me; For your sake I have braved the glen; And had to do with goblin merchant men."

Since the original work is now in the public domain, if you want to read the full text online just do a search using most standard search engines with the terms "Christina Rossetti Goblin Market" and you should turn up a number of links to the actual poems, go read it, and decide for yourself about it.

This makes a wonderful gift for people you are very close too. However, it is also a very personal poem, and if given inappropriately could actually scare someone away!

A children tale for adults. It's a light and thoughtful reading. The story of two sisters and lewd goblin men. Innocence, temptation and emotions all together. This inspiring story has wonderful work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

This tale is not about sexuality but about redemption and the need to help others. Read deep into the story to find the meaning that Rossetti intended.

This book raises some interesting questions about the roles of religion (specifically Puritanism), mourning and grief in early American literature, specifically Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative. I recommend this book to anyone who does serious research into early American literature, history, and cultural context. This is *not* an easy or light read.

Novelistic sweep combines with rigorous textual analysis to produce this compulsively readable excavation of our national narratives of race and gender. As Faery demonstrates, the stories by which we tell ourselves who we are twist, turn, mutate in response to the exigencies of the historical moment, yet the interests they have subserved have remained remarkably consistent.

I've taken to reading history lately, but only those works written by those actually there. This is Mary's own personal diary, kept for her two years of captivity by Indians in 1675. This is one of my more cherished books.
Her village was attacked by Indians and all present killed or taken hostage. Her neighbor's murders were described.
*Mine is a 1930 edition signed by the owners of the only 1903 edition which it was reprinted from.
Read what life (and death) was really like with the Indians as neighbors. Not the "history rewritten" version we are being taught.

-The 5 stars are for it's value to me. It is not written by a great author, nor is it many hundreds of pages long. It is a straight forward diary.

Interestingly enough, I read this for a course on early American literature. But as a history major, I can say that it would have served equally well in a course on, say, Colonial New England or Social Life in Colonial America. It provides fascinating insights into Puritan life--especially into its religious beliefs and practices and the huge role they played in the life of a Puritan. Moreover, it chronicles the contact of two societies at odds: Puritans and Native Americans. Rowlandson's descriptions of her captors are exceedingly interesting and give depth to any consideration of life in early America. Salisbury's notes and introduction are also quite helpful. Read as a piece of literature, moreover, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God proves to be a fruitful topic for study, as well as a great complement to its function as an historical document. Considering my English course included some rather unsavory texts, this one was much appreciated and quite refreshing, too.

"The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed," by Mary Rowlandson, is a compelling piece of colonial American literature. First published in 1682, this autobiographical text represents a genre of literature known as the "captivity narrative": a first-person account of a white settler who was held as a hostage or prisoner by Native Americans. In Rowlandson's case, she was taken captive during Metacom's War (also known as King Philip's War), which took place in 1675-1676.

The edition of Rowlandson's book edited by Neal Salisbury is excellent. This edition contains Rowlandson's text, together with a wealth of other materials: a thorough introduction, many maps, a chronology, a bibliography, and other historic documents from Rowlandson's era. The many illustrations include photographs of the title pages of earlier editions.

Rowlandson's captivity narrative is a significant milestone in American literature; the introduction to the Salisbury edition notes that the text "has been almost continually in print since 1770." Since the text itself is relatively short, it has appeared in anthologies (see, for example, "The Harper Single Volume American Literature," third edition). But the many "extras" in the Salisbury edition definitely make it a book worth buying, even if you have an anthology already containing the Rowlandson text.

Rowlandson's memoir itself is not great literature stylistically. But it is a fascinating text with some really striking passages. Rowlandson's extreme evangelical Puritanism will likely alienate or bewilder some modern readers, but her religious attitude should be read in historic and cultural context. Similarly, her extremely racist descriptions of Indians ("merciless Heathen," "ravenous Beasts," etc.) should to be read in context (but should not be trivialized, especially in multiethnic classrooms where this text might be taught).

This book is a significant document of contact between cultures in times of extreme crisis. It is an especially intriguing text for those careful readers who really try to read "between the lines." Recommended as companion texts: William Apess' "A Son of the Forest and Other Writings" (Apess was a pioneer Native American writer) and James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Last of the Mohicans."

Modern feminists who claim Rowlandson as a progenitor are sorely mistaken. Rowlandson, in fact, ascribed to those same conservative, religious values that today's society lacks.

Mary Rowlandson's account stands on its own. In all fairness however, in an enlightened society, any reprints of this pious woman's experience should include a much more complete account of the whole situation. Some facts that should be included in the introduction: 1. It was these same Indians who saved the first pilgrims from starvation and were their friends for many years. They were the Indians we honor at Thanksgiving. 2. Pious and arrogant settlers stole the Indian's land and livelihood, threatening their very survival. 3. Pushed too far, the warriors were striking back in self defense; trying to save their starving families. 3. The British army virtually exterminated the Indians and sold the few survivors, mostly women and children, into slavery in the West Indies. 4. King Phillip was killed; his head put on display in Plymouth for 20 years. Even in 1999, I see no evidence of justice or Christian love in any part of this book. Nor is there evidence that Mary Rowlandson was mistreated by her captors. Why not let history speak for itself lest someone not understand the whole story? Mary Rowlandson found herself clinging to life...just as her captors were clinging to theirs. Who were the savages here?

I've recently started reading a lot of history. For the most part, I only read books like this one that are taken from diaries. Just like the review written by "plum nuts", most of what we get is revisionist history. None of what he wrote has to do with real truth. You can't ask Mary Rowlandson, but you don't need to, just read her diary!
I have the original 1930 copy of this edition still being sold.
The book is her exact diary starting from the original bloody attack by the Indians in which most of the people were killed and 24 others were kidnapped and ending when she regained freedom. There are also some notes along the way at the bottom of pages which are there to fill in what her family was doing to regain her freedom, which Mary did not know about.
In the 1930 Preface, it states that this is one of America's most highly treasured books & that in 1930 it had been republished more than any but the most famous books. I know it is one of my most treasured!!! ...