1
, Christina Rossetti: Poems 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 (it is unclear if he or
she is real or imagined) 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 CDE CDE 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, emphasizing 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.
2
, Lines 1-8 Summary.
Lines 1-2
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
• And… here we go. "Remember" opens with the speaker —let's just say she's a
woman (since we don't have any evidence to the contrary at this point)—addressing
somebody.
• She tells this mysterious person to remember her when she is gone away, "gone far
away into the silent land."
• As you may have guessed, the speaker isn't talking about going to some far-away
library. She's talking about death, but she's essentially using a euphemism. Death?
Yikes.
• Yes, she wants the person she's addressing to remember her after she's dead and
gone. Now, so we don't have to keep writing "the person she's addressing," we're
gonna go ahead and say that the speaker of this poem is addressing her lover, or
boyfriend, or hubby, or whatever you wanna call it.
• Getting back to business, or bid'ness, as we like to say, what's the deal with the
"silent land" stuff?
• Do people not talk in the afterlife or something? Hmm, we're not really sure but
here's some folks discussing the idea.
• It's probable that 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," but in a different way.
• Speaking of wanting to be remembered, we can't help remembering a bunch of
other poems that Rossetti almost certainly read.
• To mention just one, our good buddy William Wordsworth once wrote a poem called
"Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey".
• In that venerable lyrical masterpiece, Wordsworth imagines talking to his sister
about his death and says, "If I should be where I can no more hear / Thy voice, nor
catch from thy wild eyes these gleams / Of past existence."
• We get lots of similarities here—death, remember me, more silent land business,
etc., etc. Clearly Christina knew about the work of Willie W.
• Back to the poem: you may already know but this poem is a sonnet. Lots of sonnets
are written in that most famous of English meters, iambic pentameter. From the
looks of things, this poem is written in iambic pentameter as well. Head over to
"Form and Meter" to read more on that stuff.
• Meanwhile, let's continue shall we?
Lines 3-4
3
, Christina Rossetti: Poems 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 (it is unclear if he or
she is real or imagined) 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 CDE CDE 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, emphasizing 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.
2
, Lines 1-8 Summary.
Lines 1-2
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
• And… here we go. "Remember" opens with the speaker —let's just say she's a
woman (since we don't have any evidence to the contrary at this point)—addressing
somebody.
• She tells this mysterious person to remember her when she is gone away, "gone far
away into the silent land."
• As you may have guessed, the speaker isn't talking about going to some far-away
library. She's talking about death, but she's essentially using a euphemism. Death?
Yikes.
• Yes, she wants the person she's addressing to remember her after she's dead and
gone. Now, so we don't have to keep writing "the person she's addressing," we're
gonna go ahead and say that the speaker of this poem is addressing her lover, or
boyfriend, or hubby, or whatever you wanna call it.
• Getting back to business, or bid'ness, as we like to say, what's the deal with the
"silent land" stuff?
• Do people not talk in the afterlife or something? Hmm, we're not really sure but
here's some folks discussing the idea.
• It's probable that 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," but in a different way.
• Speaking of wanting to be remembered, we can't help remembering a bunch of
other poems that Rossetti almost certainly read.
• To mention just one, our good buddy William Wordsworth once wrote a poem called
"Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey".
• In that venerable lyrical masterpiece, Wordsworth imagines talking to his sister
about his death and says, "If I should be where I can no more hear / Thy voice, nor
catch from thy wild eyes these gleams / Of past existence."
• We get lots of similarities here—death, remember me, more silent land business,
etc., etc. Clearly Christina knew about the work of Willie W.
• Back to the poem: you may already know but this poem is a sonnet. Lots of sonnets
are written in that most famous of English meters, iambic pentameter. From the
looks of things, this poem is written in iambic pentameter as well. Head over to
"Form and Meter" to read more on that stuff.
• Meanwhile, let's continue shall we?
Lines 3-4
3
