REMEMBER
Christina Rossetti
1830-1894
1830-1894
Pre-Raphaelite
Christina Rossetti
• Rossetti was born in London; her father was a painter and political exile
from Italy.
• She grew up surrounded by literature and was deeply influenced by Italian
writers.
• In the 1840s, her fathers physical and mental health deteriorated, causing
financial difficulties for the family. His suspected tuberculosis meant he
gave up his job and although he lived for another 11 years, he suffered
from depression and was never physically well again.
• When she was 14, Rossetti herself suffered a nervous breakdown and
bouts of depression and illness followed.
• Rossetti had three potential engagements but refused all, two on the
grounds of religious conviction.
• Much of her early work focused on death and loss.
• Her most famous collection – which featured Remember – was published
when she was 31.
• She became the foremost female poet of her time. She died of breast
cancer in 1894.
Preparation
◦1. Read through the poem.
◦2. Identify the rhyme scheme. What do you notice?
◦3. Identify all repeated words.
◦4. What is the tone? Does the tone change?
◦5. Now read the poem highlighting all the pronouns.
Octave
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 plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Lines 1-2
She is pleading/
commanding
Euphemism:
Death
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
The distance
between them is
reinforced by the
repetition of ‘gone
away’.
The use of “Ls” slow down the
pace- this introduces a slow,
mournful reading.
Why does it have to be
‘far away’? What
feeling is being
created?
Euphemism: Afterlife
What type of place do you
imagine? Why a silent place?
Why does she use
euphemisms instead of
talking openly about
death?
Line 3
◦When you can no more hold me by the hand
Why does she focus on hand holding?
1. A symbol of first love (holding hands).
2. A physical representation of love that will be impossible once
she is dead.
Line 4
◦Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Why only ‘half
turn’? Does she
want to leave?
Why the repetition of the word turn?
Reinforces that she cannot turn from
death. She cannot change her mind
and stay.
She knows she has to go, her death is approaching and she has accepted that BUT she still
yearns for her beloved and the time together.
Line 5
Remember me when no
more day by day
You tell me of our future
that you plann'd:
This future no
longer exists. She
feels a sense of loss.
Line 6
◦Only remember me;
The semi-colon provides
a break in the regular
rhythm and highlights
the repeated request to
‘remember me’.
Line 6-7
you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Prayers and counsel are needed now;
it will be too late after she is dead –
he will only be able to remember.
◦ Octave deals with memories and remembering.
◦ Tone= Contemplative on the topic of death.
Sestet
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.
What is the tone of
the sestet?
Accepting
◦ The sestet focuses on the process of forgetting and moving forward.
Line 9 -10
Signals the volta, or shift of ideas, a change of
tone. This shift is now reinforced by the
replacement of ‘remember’ with ‘forget’
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
11-12
The darkness= forgetting of the memories
of what she was like
Corruption= distorting of the memories
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
A small remaining part
of something/ A trace
She says: “For if the forgetting of
memories with me and of me and
the distorting of those memories
causes you pain and guilt, then I
would rather you forgot me
completely.”
13-14
Better by far you should forget
and smile
Than that you should remember
and be sad.
Notice…
◦The contrasting action to remembering has now been
introduced. Forget she tells her beloved.
◦Remember and forget are each used twice. What does this
signify?
◦She contrasts remembering with forgetting because she
acknowledges that grief is a process of remembering and
forgetting and she comes to accept that. She accepts that
her beloved will forget her to a certain extent.
Literary devices used
Simple language:
Language of the poem is simple, everyday language that is easy to understand. She
wants her beloved to easily get the message.
Repetition:
◦ “ Gone away”
◦ Emphasises the speakers immanent death and the fact that she shall no longer be
around, be in relationship with her beloved.
◦ “ No more”
◦ This highlights her sense of regret, the pain she feels as she thinks about the future and
what she will miss out on.
◦ “Remember”
◦ Emphasises her need for her memory to kept alive, for her not to be forgotten by her
beloved.