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REMEMBER – Christina Rossetti

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day 5

You tell me of our future that you planned:

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve; 10

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than you should remember and be sad.

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UNDERSTANDING THE POEM

The poem could be interpreted as the speaker addressing a loved one directly, seen in the use of ‘you’ (line 3) and ‘our’ (line 6), in the form of a letter to be read after her death.

The speaker focuses on memories of moments of their time spent together, revealing her concern that she wants to be remembered. This is highlighted by the repetition of the word ‘remember’ throughout the poem.

The couple anticipated that they would share a future together, but this was not to be. The speaker succumbed to some disease of ‘corruption’ (line 11) that eventually led to her death. Neither prayers nor ‘counsel’ (line 8) could change the outcome.

The tone and focus shift over the course of the poem, signified by the word ‘Yet’ (line 9). Where the first part of the poem looks back and clings to memories, the second part seeks to find a way to move forward.

The speaker seems to be giving her partner permission to let go of the memories and his sorrow in order to ‘smile’ (line 13) and live positively after her passing. She demonstrates the selfless depth of her love, as she is able to suppress the human need to be remembered so that her beloved has a chance at a happy life after her death, unburdened by guilt.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Rossetti uses the form of a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet to convey her message. The first two quatrains of this sonnet start with the word ‘remember’ (lines 1 and 5), and the tone is mournful.

The c-d-d-e-c-e rhyme scheme used in the sestet of lines 9 – 14 establishes a break from the octave. This break is also seen in the tone and content of the poem.

Rossetti uses the octave to address memories and remembering, while the sestet focuses on the process of forgetting and moving forward.

POETIC/LANGUAGE DEVICES

Rossetti uses euphemism to discuss difficult subject matter: Death becomes ‘gone away’ (line 1), while the afterlife is expressed as ‘the silent land’ (line 2).

The simple imagery of the physical linking of hands in line 3, as well as the speaker’s reluctance to be separated, underlines the strong connection between the speaker and her beloved.

Notice that despite the use of words with negative connotations in the sestet, for example ‘grieve’ (line 10), ‘darkness’ and ‘corruption’ (line 11), Rossetti establishes a lingering mood of positive acceptance. What might have been a depressing poem with sad content becomes a poem that ultimately celebrates life.

SOUND DEVICES

The long syllables used in the opening lines force a slow, mournful reading of the sonnet. This is contrasted by the pace of lines 9 and 13, for example, which is more ‘up-beat’ and positive.

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QUESTIONS:

1. Provide a different euphemism that Rossetti could have used in place of

‘gone away’ (line 1). ‘passed on’ OR ‘no more’ (OR any other gentle way of stating ‘dead’) 2. Which line of the poem shows that the couple expected to share many

years of life together? The speaker says, ‘our future that you planned’ (line 6), which implies that the

couple planned to spend many more years together. 3. What does ‘to counsel’ (line 8) mean in the context of the poem? Given that the speaker is dying, the ‘counsel’ possibly refers to the loved one

giving advice as to how she could fight the disease or ‘corruption’ (line 11) by taking medication, resting, getting fresh air or other well-meaning suggestions. Alternatively, it could simply refer to the attempt to give comfort in a difficult situation.

4. What can you infer about the character of the speaker’s beloved?

Support your answer with evidence from the poem. The ‘beloved’ might be a committed companion who shows his affection through the physical closeness of holding her ‘by the hand’ (line 3), and whose persuasive appeal causes her to abandon the intention to leave, but rather ‘turning stay’ (line 4). The beloved might be an optimist, since he liked to imagine their future that he ‘planned’ (line 6), or he might be an organised individual who likes to anticipate and prepare for future eventualities. He is supportive and loving, as he would ‘counsel’ and ‘pray’ (line 8) as she lay on her deathbed and he grieves at her passing.

5. How does the form of the poem contribute to its content? The poem is divided into two parts, in keeping with its Petrarchan or Italian

sonnet form. The octave focuses on remembering aspects of the relationship and has a sad, mournful tone. The sestet is signified by the use of a new sentence beginning with ‘Yet’ (line 9), alerting the reader to a shift in direction. The sestet adopts a more comforting tone as it explores the process of forgetting, and the speaker appears to be encouraging the grieving partner to move on with his life. Thus, the choice of form of the poem contributes to the reader’s appreciation and understanding of its content.

6. Which of the following descriptions best fits the speaker: ‘egocentric’,

‘self-sacrificing’ or ‘thoughtful’? Use evidence from the poem to motivate your choice.

The fact that the speaker wants the loved one to ‘forget and smile’ (line 13) suggest that she is ‘thoughtful’ and cares for his future happiness without her. She could be considered ‘self-sacrificing’ in telling him not to feel guilty if he forgets her, but this would imply that she really wants to be remembered but will sacrifice this desire out of concern for him, which is not supported by the poem. If she were egocentric, she would insist on never being forgotten, which is contrary to the poem’s message.

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7. Refer to line 2: ‘Gone far away into the silent land’. What do you understand by this line in the context of the poem? The speaker is asking to be remembered when she is ‘gone away’. We

realise that she is referring to her death, when she will be far out of reach, and no longer occupy the same world of the person she is addressing. (1) She will have ‘gone far away’ to the ‘silent land’ (line 2), a euphemism for the after-life, which she envisages as being silent and still. (1)

8. Describe the nature of the relationship as revealed by the speaker in

lines 3 – 6. The relationship was a close one. They were physically close, evident in her

being held ‘by the hand’ (line 3). (1) They spent ‘day by day’ (line 5) together and believed that their relationship would last for many years as they discussed plans for the future. She seemed reluctant to leave his presence as she would ‘turn to go’ but then ‘turning stay’ (line 4). (1)

9. Explain how the structure of the poem is mirrored by the change in tone of the poem.

As this is a Petrarchan sonnet, which is clear from the rhyme scheme, there is a natural division between the octave and the sestet. (1)

The tone of the octave is sad, nostalgic and filled with regret. (1) The sestet, however, begins with ‘Yet’, alerting the reader to the shift in content and tone, and moves to a more comforting, consoling and forgiving tone as the speaker urges her loved one to ‘forget and smile’ (line 13). (1)

10. Consider the speaker’s message in line 9 – 14. In your view does this message contradict the poem’s title? Give reasons for your answer.

The octave focuses on reminders and pleas for him to ‘remember’ her and the special times they shared. The message of the sestet, however, is for the loved one to move on with his life and not to wallow in grief at her passing. (1)

She selflessly wants him to be happy rather than miserable in remembering

her. This seems to contradict the title, but as the speaker’s feelings are reflected in the octave and echoed in the final line, this seems appropriate. (1)

The message is for him to remember her and be happy. (1)

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CHRISTINA ROSSETTI: SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF "REMEMBER"

(1862)

SUMMARY:

The narrator, who presumably represents Rossetti, addresses her beloved and encourages him to remember her after her death. She asks him to remember her even when his memory of her begins to fade. Eventually, the narrator gives this person her permission to forget her gradually because it is better to "forget and smile" than to "remember and be sad."

ANALYSIS:

“Remember” is a Petrarchan sonnet in iambic pentameter, consisting of an abba, abba octave and a cdd, ece sestet.

Rossetti repeats the word “remember” throughout the entire poem, as if the narrator fears that her beloved will not heed her request. Rossetti also uses repetition to underline the vast boundary between life and death, writing “gone away,” and later, “gone far away.” The “silent land” is a symbol of death, emphasising the narrator's loneliness without her beloved rather, which is stronger than her fear of death itself. Acceptance of death is common in Pre-Raphaelite philosophy. Pre-Raphaelites believed that material troubles pale in comparison to the struggles of the mind.

The tone of the octave is contemplative and reconciliatory on the topic of death. The narrator can finally be at peace because she has renounced her desire for earthly pleasures, such as the physical presence of her beloved. She is even accepting of death, content to exist only in her beloved's memory. However, she has not yet made peace with the possibility that her lover will forget her; this form of death would be more painful than her physical expiration.

Even though the narrator seems to reach peace with her death at the end of the octave, the Pre-Raphaelite belief system demands a further renunciation of human desire. The narrator’s tone changes with the volta, which is the break between the octave and the sestet. The volta typically accompanies a change in attitude, which is true in this poem. The narrator even renounces the need to be remembered, which is ironic because the poem is titled “Remember.” She wishes for her beloved to be happy, even if that means forgetting her. The narrator sacrifices her personal desire in an expression of true love.

"Remember" ultimately deals with the struggle between physical existence and the afterlife. Rossetti grapples with the idea of a physical body, which is subject to decay and death, and how it relates to an eternal soul.

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ANALYSIS OF OCTAVE

LINES 1 – 2

Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land;

"Remember" opens with the speaker addressing somebody. She tells this mysterious person to remember her when she is gone away,

"gone far away into the silent land." The speaker is talking about death, but she's essentially using a euphemism for

Death. She wants the person she's addressing – her beloved – to remember her after

she is dead and gone –“gone to the silent land.” What the speaker really means here is that, after she dies, she will no longer

be able to communicate with her beloved. Thus, the afterlife will be a "silent land," – metaphor – but in a different way.

LINES 3 – 4

When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Even though the speaker doesn't say "remember me" again, it is understood that she wants him to remember her.

The speaker is telling her beloved to still remember her even when he can no longer ("no more") hold her hand. Note the ‘h’ alliteration.

The speaker also wants her beloved to remember her when she can no longer start to leave, but then turn back.

"half turn to go yet turning stay" – it sounds like the speaker is recalling a common scenario; whenever she would start to leave, she would turn back to catch one last glimpse of her beloved before leaving. Note the antithesis in “go” and “stay”.

In other words, she would prepare to leave, but then turn back a little bit. So, while half turning to leave, she would also be turning to stay. Part of the confusion here, has to do with the repetition of "turn": "half turn […]

yet turning stay." The first four lines of this poem follow this rhyme scheme: abba.

LINES 5 – 6

Remember me when no more, day by day, You tell me of our future that you plann'd:

Just in case the speaker's beloved forgets that he's supposed to remember her, she tells him again.

She reminds him to remember her when he is no longer able to tell her of the future he planned for them, every day.

In normal conversation we would probably just say "remember me when you're no longer able to tell me day by day of the future you have planned for us." The poet here uses inversion – change of word order for the purpose of rhythm or emphasis, or both.

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LINES 7 – 8

Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray.

The speaker tells her beloved to just remember her one more time. The word "remember" is repeated three times in the poem – EMPHASIS All the beloved has to do is remember her because, by the time she is dead

and gone, it will be too late to "counsel then or pray." “pray”: to beg or beseech God. By the time she is dead and gone, it will be too

late to pray for her to come back, and to pray for whatever else he wants to pray for.

"counsel": by "counsel" she means something like "counsel me." In other words, after she is dead and gone it will be too late to counsel her – to make her feel better like he always used to do, or to give her advice, or to guide her or to give her direction "

ANALYSIS: FORM AND METER

Iambic Pentameter Sonnet When it comes to the form and meter of "Remember," there are two things you need to know: iambic pentameter and sonnet. Iambic pentameter, now that sounds familiar. You've probably heard that phrase tossed around here and there because, well, it's the only the most common type of meter in English poetry. In a poem of iambic pentameter, each line is composed of five ("pent-" means five) iambs. An iamb is type of beat (often called a foot) that contains an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (daDUM). To hear what five of them together sound like, check out line 1: Remember me when I am gone away. Scanning through the poem, we've noticed that pretty much every line in "Remember" is very regular iambic pentameter (often, poets like to get cute and throw little curve balls in), a sign that Rossetti was still a young poet learning the ropes, so to speak. Now that we've covered that base, we need to talk about the form of this poem. It's got 14 lines, which means it's a sonnet. There's a whole lot to say about sonnets – there are tons and tons and tons of books and articles written about them, like this one. For now, you just need to know that sonnets have 14 lines, and that they come in two basic types: the Shakespearean (named after William Shakespeare) and the Petrarchan (named for Petrarch, the famous Italian who pretty much invented the form).

"Remember" is a Petrarchan sonnet. This means that the poem can be divided into a group of eight lines (called the octave, lines 1 – 8) and a group of six lines (the sestet, lines 9 – 14). In most Petrarchan sonnets, there is a noticeable change of direction around line 9 (called the volta, or turn). Sometimes the sestet will solve a problem posed in the octave, while at others the octave will explore one idea, but then the sestet will take things in a completely different direction.

This is kind of what happens in "Remember." In the first 8 lines of the poem, the speaker is obsessed with telling her beloved to remember her after she dies. Starting around line 9, however, the speaker starts to shift her focus away from remembrance to forgetfulness. By the end of the poem, the speaker actually says it

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is better for her beloved to forget about her than to remember her and feel sad. Thus, the two sections of this poem are almost polar opposites. Talk about a change of heart.

Now besides this structural characteristic, Petrarchan sonnets also have fairly specific rhyme scheme. Most of the time, the octave, follows this scheme: abba, abba. The rhyme scheme of the sestet, on the other hand, is much more flexible, with a whole variety of options on the poetic table. The octave of "Remember" follows your basic abba, abba scheme, while the sestet has the unique, but still perfectly legal, scheme cdd, ece.

Now, it's our job to tell you that rhyme schemes aren't just for kicks. They are an important part of any poem's sound and meaning. In the case of this poem, Rossetti's choices actually mimic the poem's general trajectory. In the octave, we start with A, then get a few B's, then back to A, and then back to B, In the sestet it's very similar – C, then a few D's, then E, then C again, then E again. These rhyming patterns are cyclical, meaning things always manage to come back to where they started.

Of course, one of the major ideas in "Remember" is the cyclical nature of life. Think about it like this: the speaker is thinking about death. She knows she will die, and that death is permanent. But she also knows that remembering somebody is a way of keeping them alive, at least metaphorically. In other words, we could summarise the poem as saying "there is life, but then there is death, but then there is kind of life again" – a to b to a again. So heads up, out there: as you continue to study this poem, be alert to the various ways in which its rhymes reinforce that meaning. Rosetti was using both form and content to get her ideas across.

SYMBOL ANALYSIS

REMEMBRANCE

We certainly expect a poem called "Remember" to have something to do with memory, no doubt about that. The speaker of this poem tells her beloved no less than three times to remember her, and for good reason. In a poem where death is a total separation, remembrance becomes a way of keeping somebody metaphorically alive.

Lines 1 – 2: "Remember me" is juxtaposed with "gone away," which suggests that remembrance may be a metaphor for life.

Lines 5 – 6: The speaker repeats the same command as line 1 ("remember me"), and memory again appears to be a metaphor for life. It comes across as an antidote or compensation for the fact that she and her beloved can no longer hold hands and discuss a future together.

Lines 7 – 8: How about one more time for good measure? The speaker says "remember me" again, and by now we know this is a metaphor for life. A small ambiguity is worth noting. The "only" in "only remember" me could mean either "I only ask that you remember me" or "the only thing you should do is remember me."

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ANALYSIS: SPEAKER

Being remembered after death – it is just what makes the speaker of "Remember" tick. She keeps telling her beloved to remember her, because, she is obsessed with death. Maybe obsessed is putting it a little strongly, but she's clearly somebody who is really thinking a lot about death. And why might that be? Well, for one thing, this poem was written in the middle of the nineteenth century. People died much more suddenly, and much more frequently, than they do nowadays. However, she does think about death quite a lot, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The speaker is at least realistic. And not only that, she's definitely a very caring person. Surely, the whole "remember me remember me remember me" business might seem a little selfish, but by the end of the poem the speaker shows us how selfless she actually is. In the poem's final lines, she essentially says "On second thought, it is actually better if you forget about me, because remembering me will only cause you sadness." Talk about the ultimate gesture of selflessness. She would rather the man she loves be happy than remember her. She just cannot bear the thought of him being unhappy.

Now we are sure you are wondering if the poem is spoken by a "real" person or not. Technically no, but technically… yes. Let's explain. In poetry, it's never a good idea to confuse the speaker with the poet, even if the poem is written from a first-person perspective ("I", "me"). Here, though, that rule may need a bit of bending. In many ways the speaker of this poem is the young Christina Rossetti, at least a little bit. If you've read our "In a Nutshell" or "Calling Card" sections, you know Rossetti thought about death a lot, and that she was well aware of how short life really can be. Moreover, she suffered a mini nervous breakdown sometime in the 1840s, which likely contributed to some of her compulsions.

ANALYSIS: SETTING

Where It All Goes Down "Remember" sometimes seems like the kind of poem you would hear from somebody lying on their death bed. The repeated "remember me" business sure sounds like the kind of fare you hear from people just before they die.

Speaking of death, this poem indirectly gives us an idea of what kind of "place" death is: it is a "silent land" where couples can no longer share their dreams of the future with one another and a place where darkness reigns. The speaker doesn't go out of her way to bemoan the horrors of death, but all these indirect comments give us the impression that it is scary.

Of course, the pleas for remembrance represent the speaker's attempts to establish another kind of setting. What's the only thing that can outdo Death Land? She calls upon their relationship as a basis on which memory will keep her memory alive in spite of her passing. This is a kind of anti-silent land, which allows the speaker to live on, after she is gone.

Finally, when it comes to settings, you should also know something about the circumstances surrounding the poem's composition. With an Italian ex-patriot-turned-professor for a father (Gabriele Rossetti), a well-read mother, two siblings who became writers, and another (Dante Gabriel Rossetti) who became an influential painter and poet, the Rossetti household was a hot bed of intellectual and

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cultural discussions of all kinds (a steady stream of intellectuals frequently passed through the Rossetti home). The wide variety of available books in the house (Italian works, English novels and poetry, fairy tales, etc.) in particular bred in the young Christina Rossetti a love for literature, and a deep familiarity with the sonnet, a form she would utilize with tremendous success.

ANALYSIS: SOUND CHECK

If we had to describe the sound of "Remember" in two words, those two words would be "commanding" and "consoling". It makes sense that we need two words to describe the sound of this poem because it is a sonnet, and sonnets are often divided into two parts – an octave and sestet. So, without further ado, let's attend to this poem's sound. The poem's title is a command – "Remember." That same command is repeated three more times in the poem, at lines 1, 5, 7. In addition to this repeated imperative, there's also that "do not grieve" in line 10. Now even though this poem is definitely marked by a commanding tone, it's not the same tone your mom would use when yelling at you to clean up your room. It's a gentler kind of commanding. Note, for example, that the speaker's orders are often flanked by tender recollections (hand-holding, planning a future together).

Notice, too, that you get some alliteration in the first section to soften the commanding blow. Check out all the ‘h’ words in "When you can no more hold me by the hand, / Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay" (Lines 3 – 4). Those soft, breathy ‘h’s make the line seem less sharp and demanding, more desperate in a way with the panting desire of the speaker's plea.

The commands in the first section are also flanked by various consoling remarks. This brings us to our second sonic quality. When the speaker tells her beloved not to grieve, technically she is commanding or ordering him, but she's also speaking like a comforting friend, or lover, or parent. It is "Please do not grieve sweetheart". This consoling tone can be heard in the poem's alliterations here, too, with the ‘b’ and ‘f’ words in "Better by far you should forget and smile" (Line 13). The combinations create a sonic symmetry in the line that puts the ear at rest, soothing us as the speaker soothes her lover.

Besides these two major tones, we need to address the fact that there is a lot of repetition in the sounds of this poem. If you've read our "Form and Meter" section, you know that this poem's rhyme scheme is cyclical. That, combined with the alliterative repetitions, represents sound that "comes back," reinforcing one of the poem's major themes. "Remember" is about how people who are dead can come back to life, or be kept alive, via the memory. The way in which these sounds keep returning makes the same claim at the level of sound.

REMEMBER: THEME OF DEATH

Even though the word "death" never shows up in this poem, "Remember" is definitely a "death" poem if there ever was one. It might as well have been called "Remember me… after I'm dead," because that's the basic idea, concern, and preoccupation of Rossetti's sonnet. The speaker does her best to suggest that death is totally

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permanent – no more touching, talking, or any of that. In the end, this poem is not really about that, but rather about different ways in which death is not always the end.

REMEMBER: THEME OF MEMORY AND THE PAST

If "Remember" is a "death" poem, it is just as much the opposite as well: a "life" poem. Remember that part in Jurassic Park where Malcolm says "life… finds a way"? That could be totally be this poem's motto, and it is through the memory that life finds a way. It is through memory that things live on, even after they're dead and gone. The other side of the coin, however, is that that remembrance can be really painful. If we have fond memories of somebody who has died, we cannot remember them without also facing the fact that they are no longer with us.

REMEMBER: THEME OF LOVE

Hand-holding, plans for the future, turning back for one last glance – that surely sounds like love to us. "Remember" is definitely a poem spoken by one lover to another, and it is sort of a here's-what-I-want-you-to-do-if-I-die type of thing. The speaker dearly loves the person she addresses, so much so that, even though she wants him to remember her, she doesn't want him to suffer. This is why, at the end, she would rather he forget her, than remember her and be sad.

ONE OF CHRISTINA ROSSETTI’S MOST ENDURINGLY

POPULAR POEMS

‘Remember’, written by Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894) when she was still a teenager, is a classic Victorian poem about mourning and remembrance. It was written in 1849 but not published until 1862 when it appeared in Rossetti’s first volume, Goblin Market and Other Poems.

In summary, the poet requests that the addressee of the poem remember her after she has died. (The addressee is presumably her lover, since they had ‘plann’d’ a ‘future’ together.) But what gives the poem a twist is the concluding thought that it would be better for her loved one to forget her and be happy than to remember her if it makes that person sad. It is this second part of the poem’s ‘argument’ that saves it from spilling over into mawkish sentimentality.

‘Remember’ is composed in the form known as the Petrarchan sonnet, rhymed abba abba cdd ece, traditionally associated with love poetry (indeed, Petrarch, who pioneered the form, wrote love sonnets to the woman he admired, Laura). As with all Petrarchan sonnets there is a volta (or ‘turn’) at the end of the eighth line and the beginning of the ninth, marking the point where the octave (eight-line section) ends and the sestet (six-line section) begins. This ‘turn’ is signalled by Rossetti’s use of the word ‘Yet’: the argument of the sonnet changes direction at this point.

The context of the poem is the Victorian era, known for its cult of mourning: people would go into mourning for Dickens’s characters when they died (e.g. Little Nell), while Victoria herself would effectively spend the last forty years of her life in mourning for her husband, Prince Albert (who, incidentally, had died the year before Rossetti’s poem was published: Albert’s death created an appetite for poems about mourning, as had Tennyson’s popular long elegy, In Memoriam, which had been

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published in 1850). What marks Rossetti’s treatment of this theme is the plainness and directness of her speech: she speaks to her lover with an intimate simplicity and tenderness. And, as noted at the start of this analysis, her refusal to give way to a sentimental desire to be eternally and continuously remembered by those she leaves behind.

Rossetti’s ‘Remember’ features in our short history of English poetry as an example of Victorian literature. For more poetry, check out our classic short Victorian poems, and our analysis of another fine sonnet by Rossetti, ‘In an Artist’s Studio’. You can learn more about the life of Christina Rossetti here.

LANGUAGE AND TONE

Repetition The term ‘remember' runs, like a refrain, throughout the sonnet. However, its power seems to decrease through the poem, rather as if the voice and memory of the speaker is fading from life: The first two imperative verbs are placed at the start rather than the end of the

first and fifth lines. In the middle of the seventh, the strength of the request is modified by the word

‘Only' on its third appearance. It is further qualified in adverbial sub-clauses by ‘And afterwards' and ‘Better ..

you / Than .. you' in the sestet, losing its association with ‘me'. Further repetition with variation is seen in: ‘gone away / Gone far away', which reinforces the distance that is growing

between the speaker and her lover and emphasises the boundary that exists between life and death.

“if you should forget / Better … you should forget”, which turns the possibility of forgetfulness into an imperative.

TONE

The voice of the speaker is controlled but increasingly tentative, revealing as well as concealing meaning. The certainties of being able to remain with the beloved (Line 4), of audible advice and prayer (Line 8) are replaced by vestiges of memory amidst increasing forgetfulness. The speaker even changes the message she wants to give to the beloved. The command to remember is replaced by the suggestion she is happy for the beloved to be able to forget.

TURNING

The act of turning forms a key structural pattern in Remember. In the first line, the speaker asks the beloved to remember the speaker once she has ‘gone away'. It is not until the mention of the ‘silent land' in the second line that it appears this is a euphemism for death. She recalls how, in previous meetings, there was reluctance to turn away from the beloved, yet this is now a necessity that they both must deal with. Alternatively, the idea of ‘staying' can be seen as a reference to remaining in the memory of the beloved.

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THE VOLTA

In line 9, the volta (or turning point of the Petrarchan sonnet), the speaker's tone changes. Turning from the instruction to remember, she suddenly chooses to accept that she may be forgotten and declares that it would be far better that the beloved forgot and was happy than remembered and was sad. At the same time, the assumed happy past of the lovers is perhaps shaken by the idea that the thoughts the speaker ‘once ... had' should be forgotten because they were not entirely positive. More on the volta: A volta is a term that is used to describe the shift in ideas as a sonnet moves from the octave to the sestet. Often, the six line sestet presents an answer or a solution to the problem outlined in the eight line octave.

METRE

The traditional metre of a sonnet is iambic pentameter. Used here, the regularity of the iambic beat reinforces the sense of control the speaker attempts to establish over the matter of death and the beloved's reaction to this, something she suggests she has little control over. The inversion of the first foot in Lines 2, 7 and 13 hints at the passion which is fighting for expression. However, the strict pentameter lines convey the enclosure and restraint of the speaker as she suggests that she has more to express but cannot find the appropriate words in which to do so. The iamb is a rising foot and its consistent use emphasises the progressive movement of the speaker's thoughts as she comes to a realisation that she may be forgotten. Throughout Remember, Rossetti combines the repetition of words with the effect of the metre to highlight several important movements. For instance, whereas the pronoun ‘I' is stressed twice in the octave (lines 1, 3), it remains unstressed in the sestet and the word ‘had' is stressed in its place, highlighting the passing of a particular identity (line 12).

RHYME

The rhyme scheme of the octave consists of two enclosed quatrains: abba, abba. The enclosure of the rhyme scheme reflects the retention of a person's ‘thoughts' that the speaker describes as existing in the memory of the beloved. The rhyme scheme of the sestet runs cddece. By beginning with a cdd rhyme and then breaking into a different pattern, it emphases the shift of the speaker's thoughts. The disruption of the expected pattern may also hint at the intrusion of uncomfortable ‘thoughts' of the speaker (proceeding from a ‘dark' place), the memory of which would sadden the beloved. By joining ‘had' and ‘sad' (lines 12, 14), Rossetti structurally highlights the disjunction between remembering and forgetting. Investigating structure and versification Note that the word ‘if' is stressed twice in the sestet. What is the effect of this? Consider the words that are rhymed. How can they be linked to create another

level of meaning

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REMEMBER BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI SUMMARY

Romantic poetry was largely built on the tenement of memento mori; remember that you will die. Thus, in many works of the era, we find an almost overwhelming reference to death; death celebrated; death scorned; death in every form and capacity running rampant through the verses. As Romantics, they battered away the idea of scientific reading, and focused almost exclusively on death as a journey or a figurehead, and the act of dying as something intrinsically valuable. Christina Rossetti’s Remember follows this same pattern: the narrator encourages the unseen reader to remember her after her death, and it is only near the end of the poem that the narrator changes her mind (one can assume that the narrator is Rossetti herself) and allows him to forget her. The very pattern of the poem makes it easy to remember. Rossetti chose to repeat the word ‘remember’ throughout the poem, thus allowing the reader’s mind to grow used to this pattern of repetition; as one ‘remember’ fades, the other comes into play, segueing – an uninterrupted transition from image to image – and allowing the reader to understand intrinsically, more than intellectually, the full experience of what Rossetti is asking. It can therefore be easily split into four stanzas, each categorised by a single verse wherein the word ‘remember’ appears. However, it is not just the theme of memory that is in play here; by ‘remembering’, the narrator hopes to overcome death. As has been mentioned in many poems of the Romantic era, the true glory of poetry was that one was made immortal through the lines written. The Speaker of the poem is scared, not of death, but of her lover forgetting her. It is to her the most brutal thing that could happen to her – her tone wavers between conciliatory and contemplative, soft and weak, as she tries to implore her beloved to never forget her even when she has ‘gone far away into the silent land’. In the first few lines, she is adamant that she must be remembered at all costs, when she is no longer physically present to remind her lover to do so. It is interesting to note that the use of the word ‘remember’, while acting as a quick key to the heart of the poem and making it easy to try and keep it in mind, actually loses strength upon repetition. It is as though the speaker is fading away with every reiteration of the word ‘remember’, and thus by the middle part of the poem, the word ‘remember’ doesn’t have the same punch of meaning as it had in the beginning. This can be taken as the narrator losing her will to force her lover to remember her, by hook or by crook. However, her opinion changes near the end – or the volta, as it is known. Slowly, her words linger over the idea that ‘yet if you should forget me for a while’, it would not be a terrible thing. It would allow her lover to be happy, and the speaker overcomes her own fear of being forgotten to admit that this would be an ideal situation for them. She continues with, ‘better by far that you should forget and smile /than that you should remember and be sad’. One could take this poem, contextually, as being spoken to a loved one while on a death bed, which could count for the slow, lilting pace of the poem, growing slower and slower as it reaches towards the volta. The volta is a key point of the poem, a

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climax where the poem’s central themes suddenly and almost inexplicably change, and the narrator is fine with being forgotten by her beloved. This poem is written in the style of a Petrarchan sonnet. Petrarch was an Italian poet in the sixteenth century who wrote of courtly ideals, with the themes of noble, chaste love; it is not surprising that Christina Rossetti chose this for her poem, as her father was Gabriele Rossetti, a prominent Italian scholar, poet, and political exile who taught Italian and Dante to students in England.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Although it has been taken as a tried and tested pattern that the Pre-Raphaelites were all melancholy, death-obsessed, and miserable every waking moment, nothing could be further from the truth. Popular culture enjoys painting the Pre-Raphaelites as their preconception, that of poets wasting away from consumption and too much drink. Christina Rossetti, on the other hand, was different. She was the youngest child of a very gifted, loving family, and her early childhood was very happy and devoid of hardship. She had three brothers and sisters, and received a very good education – practically unheard of at the time for women. Her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossettie, became an accomplished painter and poet, her sister Maria was a renowned Dante scholar, and her brother William followed her in the fields of art and literary criticism. The sonnet Remember by Christina Rossetti was written in 1849 when Rossetti was just 19 years old. She is touted to be one of the foremost women poets of the 19th century Victorian era. In this famous sonnet, Remember, the poet introduces the themes of love, death, and reaction to death. Born in in London in 1830, Christina Rossetti belonged to a wealthy family and was brought up as a pious Anglican. She kept most of her poems around numerous themes starting from love to the seasons of the year. In addition, she is also well-known to make use of little visual detail in her poetry. She in fact freed her ideas to speak up for themselves. She is at times erroneously related to the women’s suffrage movement but she always liked and loved her place in life and believed that women’ rights were and Christianity at odds. Christina is also said to spend several years of her life in seclusion and bid adieu (died) to this world in 1894 as a well-known poet. The poet has written the sonnet, Remember, to a lover. It talks about their love, her death, and how she wishes him to react when she has left this world or “Gone far away into the silent land.”

REMEMBER ANALYSIS

Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land; When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

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From the lines 1 – 3, the poet deals with the element of death, and tries to make her lover understand that he needs not remember her even after her death. She says that when she has died, she will go into the silent land from where it will be impossible for him to hold her by the hand. Nor can she come back from the half way. Remember me when no more day by day You tell me of our future that you plann’d: The above two lines (5 and 6) suggest that Rossetti and her lover should have got married so that they could show their love for each other. In the above lines the poet expects a lot from her lover, and even suggest him that he must not grieve over her death he cannot remember her. It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while And afterwards remember, do not grieve: The poet further says that it is of no use to counsel or pray later, i.e. when she is gone. She says what if you will forget her for a while, and then pretend to remember her by grieving over her death. From lines 9 to 14, the poet gives instructions to her lover by saying that he must go on with his life and should not keep thinking about her death as she would rather he “…forget and smile…than remember and be sad”. The poet here makes use of a euphemism in the very first line of this sonnet when she says, “Remember me when I am gone away.” The euphemism here refers to the narrator’s death. It may also be viewed as a metaphor when compare death with the notion of undertaking a journey. This is the journey which starts from one world to next, which, of course relates to the main theme of the poem. She, in line 2 of this sonnet, makes use of another metaphor when she says, “Gone far away into the silent land”. It is to be noted here that the notion of eternal life is depicted as a ‘silent land’ which hints at the lost connection between the dead and living, kept only in the memory that’s fluid, transient, and insubstantial. For if the darkness and corruption leave A vestige of thoughts that I once had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad. The third euphemism can be seen in the eleventh line of this sonnet, when the poet says: “For if the darkness and corruption leave”. In this line, death is viewed as corruption and darkness. It is like body decaying. The poet here is very excited and says that he should not take her death and his subsequent memory as a burden to him. Therefore, she suggests that he should better ‘forget and smile.’ While Rossetti doesn’t make much use of several symbols in her poetic works, in this sonnet she makes use of the word “silent land” for eternal life. Here she might be indicting towards her Calvinist belief in pre-destination.

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She might have also used the term “silent land” in place of heaven or hell as she is not aware of which eternal life she is destined to live in. This is just her assumption. The language of this sonnet is so simple and meaningful that the reader can also easily apply it to his/her lives. The message that this sonnet wants to give is that death is inescapable, but it must not gobble up the lives of those who are still alive. This is an amazing poem with simple language and great theme. Both these features of it work in tandem with the rhyme scheme, such as abba abba cdd ece, thus making it sound pleasantly. The beauty of this sonnet lies not only its choice of languages, but also in retaining or maintaining a somewhat complex idea. Rossetti had written this sonnet to her lover with the instruction and advice that he needs not be upset after her death. She advises him not to remember anything about her for she would rather know that he is happier than that he is, in a sense, dead while alive. The message given by this poem must be applied by all of us to our lives, as well for it’s really the ultimate solution to handle the death of our near and dear ones.

CONCLUSION

The poem Remember deals with themes like love, life, death and forgetting. The speaker (poet) in the poem envisages herself dead or departed and speaks to her loved one who is left behind after her death. This is a very simple poem with great message that all of us should apply to our lives. It is written in a very simple language. The readers can easily access and identify. It is also a perfectly balanced poem, narrated in the form of the Italian sonnet where she bears a single thought with no unrelated detail. The very first quatrain of this sonnet brings to us the subject of the speaker’s death and the painful separation of the two lovers. The poem has been written like a monologue directly addressed to the lover. In the sonnet the poet is urging her lover to remember her when she is “gone away,/Gone far away into the silent land;” The poet, as discussed above, makes use of a euphemism for death through the use of terms like “gone away” and repeats the same words in the second line to put emphasis on the finality of death. Besides, the poet also highlights metaphors like “the silent land” to place distance between them. The speaker though knows about the distance between them, and knows that after death there is no chance when he can “hold [her] by the hand”. Thus, the poet ends her sonnet with the same first quatrain with which she started off.

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SUMMARY

THE OCTAVE

Lines 1 – 4 In the first line, the speaker begs her lover to remember her. "Remember me when I am gone away," she says, giving the reader no clear indication of exactly when or how she is going to die. In fact, she never directly states that she is dying, instead referring to a "silent land," which the reader assumes is a metaphor for death. This land doesn't seem to correlate to a specific place. Readers are left with no means of interpreting "silent land" as anything other than a cemetery, a grave, or death itself. The speaker further emphasizes her death in the line "When you can no more hold me by the hand." Her death will destroy the intimacy between them, breaking their physical connection and separating her spirit from her body. This distinction between the physical and the spiritual self is important. For the speaker to travel to that "silent land" without her body, she must have a soul or spiritual self that can transcend death. This spiritual self will not stop her from dying, however, nor will it prevent the two lovers from being separated. In the fourth line, the speaker suggests that death is not the only thing working to part them. The words "half turn to go yet turning to stay" indicate that the speaker had doubts about the relationship and that when she tried to leave, her beloved stopped her. Lines 5 – 8 In line five, the speaker repeats the first words of the poem: "Remember me." This time, she wants her beloved to remember her even when the "future that [he] plann'd" doesn't happen. From this line, we learn just how serious the lovers are; they have already planned a future together that probably includes marriage (if they aren't married already).

SUMMARY 2

Lines 1 – 2 The opening two lines of Rossetti’s sonnet “Remember” introduce the idea of separation, but whether the speaker’s eminent departure is because she has chosen to leave her lover or because she is dying is not immediately clear. As the poem unfolds, the reader understands that death will divide the couple, and the initial hint of that is the phrase “silent land” to describe the place the speaker is going. The words seem to define a cemetery or individual grave more than heaven, and “silent,” in particular, implies a dormant state – an existence and a place that are neither joyous nor painful, pleasant nor sad. The opening lines also portray the speaker’s desire to be remembered, and she requests her lover to do just that.

Lines 3 – 4 Line 3 simply furthers the idea of the couple’s time together coming to an end, describing their physical separation when death will remove her from his touch. Line 4, however, presents an interesting twist in the situation. If Rossetti is writing only about the sadness of a loving man and woman being torn apart by one’s actual death, then the woman – the one dying – would not have the option of turning “to go yet turning stay.” The implication here is that the death theme is not the only one at work. Caught between two opposites, going and staying, the speaker reveals her

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uncertainty in whether she really loves the man to whom she is speaking. Her unsure feelings become clearer in the latter part of the poem.

Lines 5 – 6 In line 5, the woman once again requests that her lover remember her “when no more day by day” he can talk to her about the future he was planning for the both of them. Notice here that the speaker says “our future that you planned,” implying that she may not have given as much thought to staying together for the rest of their lives as he had.