Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born to a Italian family in London, England in 1828. Coming from a successful family, his brother William Michael Rossetti and sisters Christina Rossetti and Maria Francesca Rossetti all became famous writers. Rossetti received a comprehensive education in his adolescence, and was introduced to work by Shakespeare, Sir Lord Byron, and Charles Dickens. Alongside poetry, Rossetti also expressed a keen interest in painting, and studied formal drawing between 1841 and 1845. He befriended artists such as William Holman Hunt, which would have a profound impact on his artistic development.
Rossetti began displaying his paintings as early as 1849, which were heavily influenced by Italian Art of the Middle Ages. During this time he continued to expand his social and artistic circles. As well, he began to translate poetic works, such as Dante Alighieri's work La Vita Nuova. Literary references had always been present in Rossetti's work, and he soon turned his attention more seriously towards poetry. In 1862 his wife died after delivering a stillborn child. This incident profoundly upset him, while also providing material for his poetry.
Rossetti began to write incredibly intimate portrayals of love and romance. His form of choice was the sonnet, and he grew proficient in the style. His first collection of poetry, Poems by D. G. Rossetti, was attacked as licentious by critics. The negative response to the collection threw Rossetti into a deep depression and he began to drink heavily. Nonetheless, he was able to continue working and was able to complete his second poetic work, Ballads and Sonnets, 1881 before dying the following year. Together, Rossetti's collection of sonnets form The House of Life. The poems are of a deep emotional quality, and express the pain and love Rossetti felt for his deceased wife.
