The Blessed Damozel
The titular character of "The Blessed Damozel" is a woman who died 10 years ago on Earth and ascended to Heaven. In Heaven, the damozel eternally waits for her lover on Earth to join her. Rossetti's choice to refer to this young woman as a "damozel" suggests that she was a young woman when she died and that she and the speaker, although they were lovers, were unmarried. We get a description of the damozel in the first two stanzas of the poem: "Her eyes were deeper than the depth / of waters still'd at even; / She had three lilies in her hand, / And the stars in her hair were seven" (3-6). The speaker describes the damozel as very beautiful, with long blonde hair, deep eyes, and an angelic voice: "Her voice was like the voice the stars / Had when they sang together" (59-60).
In Heaven, the damozel is not only blessed by God, who brought her to Heaven after her death, but also by the Virgin Mary. In Stanza II, the speaker notes that the damozel wears "a white rose" (9) given to her by Mary "for service meetly worn." In the later part of the poem, while the Damozel herself is speaking, she displays great trust and respect for Mary.
In the second part of the poem, the damozel shows her character to be determined and headstrong. She addresses God directly, asking why her lover hasn't joined her yet, and then begins a long and passionate dialogue about what she will do with her lover after he makes it into Heaven. In the final stanza of the poem, however, it becomes clear that she has gotten ahead of herself, and that she will have to keep waiting for her lover. She resumes the passive waiting position again that she held at the beginning of the poem, and weeps.
The damozel's lover
The damozel's lover, who is still alive on Earth, appears five times throughout "The Blessed Damozel." Look for his voice in Stanzas IV, X, XVI, and XXIII. Every time he appears, his words are separated from the rest of the poem with parentheses. Even though 10 years have passed since the damozel's death, her lover is still grieving for her. He misses her so badly that he imagines that he can feel her presence with him on Earth. For example, he confuses birdsong for the damozel's voice: "Even now, in that bird's song, / Strove not her accents there, / Fain to be harken'd?" (61-3).
Even though we don't know many specific details about the damozel's lover, we do know that the damozel is desperate for him to join her in Heaven. As the damozel waits longer and longer for her lover to join her and ascend as a "thin flame" to Heaven, the reader begins to worry that the damozel's lover will never join her. The fact that the damozel promises to take care of her lover in Heaven and show him around implies that he would not be as at ease in Heaven as the damozel. We are left wondering whether the damozel's lover might not share her faith or may not have been as faithful as would be necessary to be accepted into Heaven. This worry is communicated by the damozel in the final stanza, who begins to weep because she so desperately misses him.
Mary
We first see Mary in Stanza II through the description of the damozel: she is wearing a white rose given to her from Mary for being a faithful servant. This mention of Mary establishes her as a respected character within Rossetti's imagined Heaven and hits at her generosity and support. Later on, the damozel refers to Mary as "the dear mother" (119). Likely, the reference is to the biblical Mary, mother of Jesus.
In Stanza XVIII, Mary is mentioned again, this time in more detail. The damozel describes how Mary lives in the "groves" (103) in Heaven, surrounded by 5 beautiful servants, called "Cecily, Gertrude, Magdalen, Margaret, and Rosalys" (107-8). Mary and her cohort sew gowns for children who died at birth, which underscores the motherly role that Mary has in Heaven. The damozel is certain that Mary will speak in her favor, will approve of her headstrong determination, and will even personally accompany her to Christ to speak her case on behalf of her lover.
The speaker
The speaker in "The Blessed Damozel" is an omniscient, separate persona who can see the damozel as well as her lover on Earth. He describes the damozel in careful detail in the first few stanzas, focusing on her embellishments and adornments rather than on her sensual beauty. Unlike speakers in other poems, the speaker in this poem does not have a fleshed-out character with specific personality traits. We can infer certain things about the speaker, however, by the way he describes certain things within the poem. For example, the speaker is able to see an immense scope of things, including the entire universe: "It lies in Heaven, across the flood / Of ether, as a bridge. / Beneath, the tides of day and night / With flame and darkness ridge / The void, as low as where this earth / Spins like a fretful midge" (31-6). The fact that the speaker refers to the Earth as "this earth" signifies that the speaker has an intimate knowledge of the Earth, and yet can see far enough away from the Earth that it looks like an "anxious insect" to him.
