Theme: Love/Loss, Death, Grief, Hope – that death is not the end
Type: Sonnet
Background
- Written by Christina Rossetti – suffered from illness and so it isn’t surprising that she explores the theme of death
- As a Christian, she believed that death isn’t the end – in this poem
- She is clearly talking to a loved one and she wants to be remembered by her loved ones
- We get a sense that she is telling them to be prepared for the worse
- Many Rossetti poems mix the themes of love and death
- The poet seems to be inhabiting a world of imagination or ghost-like place even before she dies
- It is a hopeful poem – one which brings comfort
Language
- The poem appears pessimistic because she is acting like she will die any day
- The very first line tells us the two main themes – love and death intertwined
- Repetition of “Remember me” is done so many times that it is almost haunting
- The line “Remember me when I am gone away” sound like someone pleaded, wanting recognition
- Ironically, Rossetti is asking to be remembered, but if remembrance brings sadness, she would rather be forgotten.
- The mood of the poem is one of wistful longing and sadness at the inevitability of separation by death
Structure and Form
- The poem is a sonnet (three four-line stanzas and a rhyming couplet)
- The first two stanzas have the rhyming scheme ABBAABBA – gentle and haunting
- The sestet CCCDED – changes the mood less regular so more conversational
- The repetition of Remember is haunting – almost like a ghostly whisper or a bell tolling at a funeral
