In this poem, The Woodspurge, Rossetti expresses his grief throughout the poem. It is believed that this poem is written when he was in his anguished state when he was being pressurized by Elizabeth Siddal's desire for marriage. Siddal is the main and usual model Rossetti had used for most of his paintings. They got married eventually though. Nothing about her is mentioned in this poem but we could clearly sense and feel his grief and depression throughout the poem. Rossetti starts off the poem with an antithesis, "The wind flapped loose, the wind was still." This might be used to show how even the weather seemed to be in depression and in unstable state. The wind is howling at one time and it freezes at the other, this shows how volatile and unstable the weather is and Rossetti can relate with it easily. He is very stressed and depressed at that time, he is not in the right state of mind and the wind's volatility makes him feel as though it feels the same way too. The use of the word "dead" in the second line creates a dark and daunting mood; intensify the whole depressed and anguished mood of Rossetti, imitated by the nature.
The quote," I had walked on at the wind's will, I sat now, for the wind was still" enhances his depressed mood. This shows how apathetic, confused and conflicted he is. The way he walks aimlessly and the fact that he follows the direction of the wind clearly portrays his unstable mental state of mind and again showing us that he is in grief. Next, Rossetti intensifies the imagery that he's in grief by telling us his position of sitting in the middle of the field. The quote, "Between my knees my forehead was," shows us the imagery of him sitting in a foetal position which consequently shows us that he is insecure and feeling extremely depressed. We could also see that parts of his body speak for his soul as at this time his head is bent downwards and so is his dimmed soul.