Rossetti Revision 3

Revision Notes on Rossetti:

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.

'Song (When I am dead, my dearest)' :

Relationships-In Song, the speaker urges his/her ‘dearest' not to let the memory of the speaker get in the way of living his or her own life. S/he declares that his/her happiness in death does not depend on anyone else.

The word ‘haply' comes from the phrase ‘by hap' which means by chance or accident or perhaps. By saying that once dead, ‘haply' s/he ‘may remember' or ‘haply may forget' (lines 15-16) the pain of living on the earth, s/he indicates that it matters little whether others remember or forget the speaker. Rather than being a premeditated decision, s/he suggests that remembrance is a matter of chance.

Nature-In Song, Rossetti has her speaker combine the anticipation of death with the ongoing life of nature. S/he looks forward to a time when the ‘green grass' will grow above him/her and the ‘showers and dewdrops wet' will offer protection and the lover some comfort (lines 5, 6).

Repetition-There is a marked amount of repetition in Song:

• Whilst the first verse ends, ‘And if thou wilt, remember, / And if thou wilt, forget (lines 7-8), the second ends ‘Haply I remember, / And haply may forget (lines 15-16). By prefacing the words ‘remember' and ‘forget' in the same way in both instances, there is a blurring of the distinction between memory and forgetfulness
• The first three lines in the second verse begin, ‘I shall not' (lines 9-11). The repetition of this phrase highlights the transformation of the speaker's senses after death. S/he is no longer able to ‘see', ‘feel', or ‘hear' earthly phenomena. Rather, his/her concerns will shift away from the earthly environment.

Alliteration-Throughout Song Rossetti also uses alliteration and sibilance to create a song-like tone:

• Phrases such as ‘sad songs' (line 2) highlight the melancholy voice of the speaker. The soft ‘sh' sounds in the words ‘shady' and ‘showers' reinforce his/her weary tone
• The description of ‘green grass' is sensuous and offers a comforting promise.

Metre-The first verse of Song is written in iambic tetrameter. This creates a song-like rhythm. This is strengthened by the regularity of the second stanza, broken only by the trochee that starts the penultimate line.

Enjambment-In Song, the use of enjambment creates a sense of spontaneity and reinforces the idea that the speaker is freely expressing his/her ideas. In particular, the lines, ‘And dreaming through the twilight / That doth not rise nor set' (lines 13-14) demonstrate the free flow of thought that the poem expresses.

'Song (When I am dead, my dearest)' - Imagery, symbolism and themes

Natural imagery - The speaker requests that the lover plant ‘no roses' on his/her grave and no ‘shady cypress tree' in his/her memory (lines 3-4)

• Whilst roses represent love, the cypress tree traditionally symbolises mourning because cypress branches were carried at funerals.
• By declaring that s/he has no need of these things, the speaker reassures the lover that s/he will not be jealous or resentful if the lover continues living his/her life rather than to mourn for the speaker.

Silence - In the second verse, the speaker claims that once dead s/he will no longer:

‘hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain' (l.11-12)

• The nightingale was a common symbol in Romantic poetry . Keats used it in Ode to a Nightingale to speak of joy, music, self-expression, nature and immortality
• By suggesting that the nightingale's song is associated with pain, Rossetti denies the idea that the natural world is a place of pure joy.

Twilight - The speaker looks forward to:

‘dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise or set' (line 15)

The notion of resting in a place where the rising and setting of the sun is not necessary comes from the New Testament book, Revelation.

Self-expression and the natural world-This poem is concerned with natural and spontaneous expression through song or poetry, such as the song of the ‘nightingale' (l.11). Poetry provides a natural outlet for the speaker's emotions.

Memory and forgetfulness-Memory is a sustaining force. In Song forgetfulness is the axis upon which the poem is rooted. This hints at the notion that identity is founded upon memory and that self-awareness is constructed by the remembrance of a former self.

Earthly life and ‘life after life'-The images of natural growth in Song can be seen to replace the grief that the speaker anticipates her lover will experience after she has died.