Student Question
What journey is the Traveller making in "Uphill" and what are its philosophical implications?
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In Christina Rossetti's poem "Uphill," the Traveller embarks on a life journey, metaphorically represented as a day’s uphill trek with no respite until the final rest at an inn symbolizing death. This journey implies a philosophical view of life as an arduous, uphill struggle, solitary in nature, and focused towards death. The poem suggests a rather grim Christian philosophy, where life is a preparation for death, with no explicit promise of heaven or hell, but only the earned rest after life's labor.
Christina Rosetti's poem "Uphill" uses the extended metaphor of a day's journey ending with a night's rest at an inn to describe the progress of life from cradle to grave.
The most obvious philosophical implication, reinforced by the poem's title, is that life is hard. The journey is all uphill, and there is no rest or respite until death. The journey takes all day, from morn to night, with no breaks and no downhill stretches.
Only one of the poem's four stanzas deals with the journey. The other three are about the inn at the end of the road. This suggests a focus on death, to which life is merely a prelude. However, there is no promise of heaven after the uphill struggle of life—there is only a promise of rest. Even comfort is not certain, only the sum of one's labors on the road. The philosophy therefore...
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seems to be that of a rather cheerless Christianity without the bribe of heaven or the threat of hell.
What journey does the traveler make in "Uphill," and what are its philosophical implications?
The journey in Christina Rossetti's poem "Uphill" can be read (and generally has been read) as an extended metaphor for life. The clearest implication is that life is hard. The journey does not slacken or get any easier. One must travel all day without respite. The only rest is at the inn of death, and when you reach the inn you must rest: there is no avoiding it.
Only at night, after death, will the traveler meet other wayfarers. This emphasizes the loneliness of life. Rossetti takes the Christian view that life is merely a preparation for death, which is why only one of the poem's four stanzas deals with life. The traveler is assured of a bed (the inn of death is never full, though a final destination, such as heaven or hell, is not mentioned) but not necessarily comfort, merely "the sum" of labor, which presumably means whatever he has earned through the manner in which he has conducted himself on life's journey. At any rate, the uphill struggle is over.