'Disappointment with earthly existence is often contrasted with God's love and the rewards of Heaven'. In light of this view, consider the ways in which Christina Rossetti explores the nature of religious experience and belief in her poetry.

In the poem 'Up-Hill', it is never explicitly mentioned that this "road up-hill" is to Heaven, but the presence of an anonymous voice, answering all of the speaker's questions, certainly has an angelic, God-like, omniscient tone. The voice is worried that she should have "rest" after the "labour" of climbing; the hill could symbolise an ascent to Heaven, and the fact that it exerts her could symbolise the earthly struggle of attaining such a feat. This test of the hill could represent maintaining faith in adversity and remaining loyal to God, but it could also represent the difficulties of earthly existence through the struggle of life. Going through life is represented by this climbing of the hill. As you grow older and work harder, you travel further up the hill. Moreover when the voice asks if the road "wind[s] all the way", the anonymous voice replies "yes, to the very end", which suggests that life is a struggle right up until death, however it also says that there are "beds for all who come"; everyone who works hard enough to arrive at Heaven's gates will be rewarded. This sentiment of hard work and reward is a demonstration of Rossetti's own faith. She herself had doubts about her belief, but remained religious her whole life, making sacrifices for her religion (breaking off two engagements, for example), possibly in the belief, or hope, that she would be rewarded in such a way.