Remember Me Poem (A Poem by Christina Rosetti)

Christina Rossetti wrote ‘Remember Me Poem’ in 1849 when she was just 19 years old. She is regarded as one of the most important female poets of the nineteenth-century Victorian era.

Remember Me Poem

Her work was praised at the time as “in artless art, if not in intellectual impetus, Mrs. Browning is far better.”

The author explores the themes of love, death, and reaction to death in this renowned sonnet, ‘Remember.’

This sonnet was composed by the author for a lover. It discusses their love, her death, and how she wants he will behave when she has left this world, or “gone far away into the quiet realm.”

Remember Me

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

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:

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 that you should remember and be sad.

by Christina Rossetti

READ ALSO!!!

Summary

In Christina Rossetti’s poem ‘Remember,’ the invisible reader is encouraged to remember her after her death, and it is only at the end of the poem that the narrator changes her mind and permits him to forget her.

However, the speaker opens the first words of this poem by begging the listener, who is probably her lover, to remember her when she dies. This is something she says multiple times, hoping he won’t forget her when she’s gone.

Their love will shine brightly in the darkness. However, there is an intriguing change at the end of the poem. The speaker tells her lover that she wants him to remember her, but only if it means they’ll be together.

Analysis of Remember Me Poem

Lines 1–2

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

The theme of the speaker’s death and the sad separation of the two lovers is introduced in the opening quatrain of Christina Rossetti’s ‘Remember.’ The poem was composed in the style of a monologue delivered straight to the lover.

However, in the first two lines of this sonnet, Christina Rossetti addresses the topic of death and attempts to persuade her lover that he does not need to remember her even after her death.

She claims that after she dies, she will enter the “quiet country,” also known as the desolate region of death. This sonnet’s wording is so straightforward and profound that readers may readily apply it to their own lives.

Lines 3–4

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

In these two lines from Christina Rossetti’s ‘Remember,’ the speaker explains why her lover should remember her. As he prepares to leave this earthly weight, he will be unable to grasp her hand.

She also cannot return from midway and turn to say good-bye to her love. The argument is both sound and passionate. The speaker’s tone conveys a feeling of reality as well as apprehension about death.

Furthermore, the poet hopes to return when she is nearing death because he was always there to hold her hands. They were never on this road alone. As a result, she will be sorrowful in the future about her lonely voyage to nothingness.

Lines 5–6

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you plann’d:

In the preceding lines, the poet has high expectations of her beloved and even advises him not to mourn her death if he cannot recall her.

She begs him to remember the times they spent together, cherishing every minute of their mutual love because she won’t be there in the days after her death, when her beloved may tell her about their future.

When death knocks on the door, one must not only open it but also depart her earthly abode. The voyage to nonentity is one that no one has ever planned or foreseen.

READ ALSO!!!

Lines 7–8

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Her lover can only recall the past. She will be present in her thoughts, but in fact, the lover must shoulder the worldly weight alone.

Each of the four stanzas is distinguished by a single verse containing the word “remember.” However, it is not merely the notion of remembrance at work here; the narrator seeks to transcend death by remembering.’

The ultimate splendor of poetry, as expressed in numerous Romantic era poems, was that it made one immortal via the lines written.

Lines 9–10

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

One may interpret this poem, ‘Remember,’ as being delivered to a loved one on their deathbed, which could account for the slow, melodic tempo of the poem, which grows slower and slower as it approaches the volta.

However, her viewpoint shifts at the end of the poem. Slowly, her words linger on the concept that ‘but forgetting me for a time might not be a bad thing.’

It would make her beloved happy, and the speaker overcomes her dread of being forgotten to declare that this would be a perfect circumstance for them.

Lines 11–12

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Christina Rossetti’s eleventh verse of ‘Remember’ begins with a euphemism. “For if the darkness and depravity go,” the poet writes here. Death is portrayed as corruption and gloom in this statement. It’s like a body decomposing.

The poet now is ecstatic and declares that her death and subsequent memories should not be a burden to him. Furthermore, the poet is worried about her beloved even though she won’t be able to see or feel him.

The poet’s love for her beloved is revealed via suspense. Aside from that, the poet pondered the ultimate many times before creating this poem.

Lines 13–14

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

It’s worth noting the use of the word “remember” here. While functioning as a rapid key to the poem’s heart and making it easy to remember, the word loses potency with repetition.

It’s as if the speaker is fading away with each repetition of the word “remember,” and towards the middle of the poem, the word “remember” doesn’t carry the same punch of meaning as it had at the start.

She encourages him not to recall anything about her since she would rather know that he is happy than that he is dead while living.

Structure

‘Remember’ is a fantastic poem with simple language and a wonderful message. Both of these elements complement the rhyming pattern, making it seem nice.

The brilliance of this sonnet rests not only in its use of languages but also in its ability to hold or preserve a relatively difficult thought.

‘Remember,’ on the other hand, is a fourteen-line sonnet with the rhyme pattern ABBA ABBA CDD ECE.

READ ALSO!!!

Themes

Christina Rossetti explores themes of life, memory, forgetfulness, loss or death, and love in ‘Remember.’ The latter is particularly apparent in the poem’s last lines. The speaker’s affection for her listener outweighs her wish for them to remember her when she’s gone.

She’d prefer they be happy then keep her memory, which is a sign of great love. Memory is a key subject, as seen by the repeated use of the term “remember.” It begs the question of what it means to die if one is still living in the imagination of another.

The speaker in the poem, on the other hand, imagines herself as dead or departed and speaks to her beloved who is left behind after her death. This is a simple poem with a powerful message that we should all apply to our lives.

Literary Devices

Christina Rossetti employs a number of literary tropes in ‘Remember me.’ Enjambment, repetition, anaphora, and metaphor examples are instances of these.

The latter is implied by the description of death as a “quiet region.” This is a euphemism used to make the possibility of lossless terrifying and gloomy.

Furthermore, the poet uses the metaphor “the silent land” to create space between them, knowing that after death, there is no opportunity when he may “take [her] by the hand.”

The phrase is followed by another, “gone away,” which functions in the same way and repeats the identical words in the second line to stress the finality of death.

The usage of “Remember me” at the beginning of two lines is a nice example of repetition and anaphora. These lines begin the sonnet’s two quatrains. The portions are organized according to the speaker’s desire to be remembered.

There are also a few examples of enjambment in these lines, such as the transition between lines 5 and 6, as well as 7 and 8.

We hope this article on remember me poem has been interesting. Please endeavor to share this article with family, friends, and colleagues.

Daily Time Poems.

Remember Me Poem (A Poem by Christina Rosetti)