Poem Analysis for Christina Rossetti’s Remember
Themes:
Death
Afterlife
Selfless
Need for control
Emotion
Summary:
o The personal persona asks her lover we presume to remember her when she
has “Gone far away into the silent land”.
o There is this sense the persona longs to be part of both the earthly world and
the afterlife. Perhaps this suggests a faltering in her belief in the afterlife as
she wants to be remembered in the “earthly world”, yet again this is
contrasted by the security and assurance through the word “gone”- as though
passage in the afterlife is definite.
o Ultimately, the persona is selfless, asking not to be remembered if her lover
will despair.
Structure:
o Petrarchan sonnet, with the Volta symbolising the persona’s selfless
acknowledgement.
o Traditionally, the rhyming couplets represent the earthly relationship in the
octave, yet there is also a rhyming couplet in the sestet representing a
connection between the earthly world and the afterlife.
o This questions if the persona is being truthful when she says she does not
want to be remembered, as perhaps there is still this desire to be a part of
both worlds. Furthermore, by rhyming “had” and “sad” (lines 12, 14), Rossetti
structurally highlights the distinction between remembering and forgetting.
More A* analysis on page 2!
Imagery:
Themes:
Death
Afterlife
Selfless
Need for control
Emotion
Summary:
o The personal persona asks her lover we presume to remember her when she
has “Gone far away into the silent land”.
o There is this sense the persona longs to be part of both the earthly world and
the afterlife. Perhaps this suggests a faltering in her belief in the afterlife as
she wants to be remembered in the “earthly world”, yet again this is
contrasted by the security and assurance through the word “gone”- as though
passage in the afterlife is definite.
o Ultimately, the persona is selfless, asking not to be remembered if her lover
will despair.
Structure:
o Petrarchan sonnet, with the Volta symbolising the persona’s selfless
acknowledgement.
o Traditionally, the rhyming couplets represent the earthly relationship in the
octave, yet there is also a rhyming couplet in the sestet representing a
connection between the earthly world and the afterlife.
o This questions if the persona is being truthful when she says she does not
want to be remembered, as perhaps there is still this desire to be a part of
both worlds. Furthermore, by rhyming “had” and “sad” (lines 12, 14), Rossetti
structurally highlights the distinction between remembering and forgetting.
More A* analysis on page 2!
Imagery:
