"No, Thank You, John" is an 1862 poem by the English writer Christina Rossetti in which a woman addresses and negotiates with a man who continues to pursue her despite her rejections. It was originally published in Rossetti's collection Goblin Market and Other Poems, and engages with a number of themes common in Rossetti's work, most prominently romance and Victorian gender roles. Less obviously, it also engages with issues of haunting and with some of the gothic themes for which Rossetti is known. It is one of Rossetti's best-known works.
The poem is composed of eight quatrains, each of which follows an ABAB rhyme scheme. It uses a blend of iambic tetrameter, pentameter, and trimeter to produce a stilted, uneasy rhythm. Its speaker, clearly distressed and powerless in the face of her romantic pursuer, moves through a series of strategies. Thus the poem portrays a transition from irritable directness to polite diplomacy. The work is written in straightforward language, with sparing use of figurative language or imagery. It is, like much of Rossetti's poetry, a dramatic monologue—a persona poem narrated by an invented character.
