Remember

Christina Rossetti

Summary
Remember is a short poem with a simple
vocabulary but and only one stanza. There is only
one speaker who appears to be her lover.

Themes and Tone

The main themes are loss, death, memories, fear

and love. The speaker speaks in a soft,
contemplative and fearful tone. The poem also
contains the idea of "living" through another
persons remembrance of them

Literary Devices

Christina Rossetti uses metaphors and repetition of

certain phrases.
Line By Line Summary

Lines 14

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

This starting immediately brings focus to the main

point of the poem, and uses a metaphor to convey
the idea of the speakers death. In the next lines the
speaker expresses her sadness, fear of death and
wish to turn back so as to not leave the lover.

Lines 58

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray
In these lines the speaker asks her lover not to
grieve about her death, but only to remember her
and their memories together.

Lines 910

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve

Here slowly the speakers voice shifts to a different

viewpoint, telling the lover that it is still okay if he
forgets her and he shouldn't be sad when he
remembers again

Line 1114

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of that once i had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad

In these final lines, the speaker completely shifts to

the opposite viewpoint, as if she finally thinks that
perhaps remembering might be a bad thing.
Lines 1112 uses a metaphor to link the speakers
sadness to the memory of her and how her death
may make the listener remember the rough times of
their relationship.
The speaker then goes on to end the poem saying
that it would be better if the listener forgot her and
lived happily than remembering her and not.

Tags: #TWSI/English