Remember Italian Sonnet - Presentation

Christina Rosetti  5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894  Rossetti was educated at home by her mother and father, who had      her study religious works, classics, fairy tales and novels. Rossetti began writing down and dating her poems from 1842, mostly imitating her favourite poets. From 1847 she began experimenting with verse forms such as sonnets, hymns and ballads; drawing narratives from the Bible, folk tales and the lives of the saints. Under the pen-name "Ellen Alleyne", she contributed to the literary magazine, The Germ, published by the Pre-Raphaelites from January – April 1850. She was ambivalent about women's suffrage, but many scholars have identified feminist themes in her poetry. She was opposed to slavery (in the American South), cruelty to animals (in the prevalent practice of animal experimentation), and the exploitation of girls in under-age prostitution.  Remember is a Petrarchan sonnet.  The speaker 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 speaker gives this person her permission to forget her gradually because it is better to "forget and smile" than to "remember and be sad." Metre  Iambic pentameter Octave  The speaker reminds her beloved that when she is gone into the silent land of death, he will no longer hold her hand; he will no longer plan or speak of their future life together (seemingly her illness has prevented them from marrying); he will no longer be able to comfort and counsel her and pray for her.  Her request of him is that, with all this that they will lose, he remember her. The theme is being remembered after death.  The speaker is self-centred: she is thinking only about herself. Sestet  The narrator’s tone changes in the sestet.  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. The volta (between the octet and the sestet) refers to shift in mood or change in argument in a sonnet.  Death The dying poetic speaker is preparing herself and her beloved for what is to come. She has been fighting to recover and renew her strength to stay alive. She foresees the time when her effort will fail and wants her beloved to be prepared, "you understand," for her death.  Mortality and immortality The speaker faces her mortality by accepting the pull of death "into the silent land.".  Importance of Remembering A command for her beloved 1. Remember me when I am gone away, 2. Gone far away into the silent land; 3. When you can no more hold me by the hand, 4. Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay. EUPHEMISM & METAPHOR: For death EUPHEMISM & METAPHOR: For the afterlife; ‘silent’ – death is silent, they cannot hear other anymore Ambivalent about death, she needs to go, but wants to stay The speaker reminisces about moments they have shared TONE is urgent and fearful 5. Remember me when no more day by day Emphasises they spent most of their time together 6. You tell me of our future that you plann'd: Their future can no longer be as she will be dead 7. Only remember me; you understand 8. It will be late to counsel then or pray. REPETITION: Highlights the speakers concern that she will be forgotten Nothing can make the speaker return OCTAVE Focuses on memories, the pain of being apart and the speaker’s need to be remembered The speaker chooses to be selfless – she would rather be forgotten 9. Yet if you should forget me for a while 10. And afterwards remember, do not grieve: 11. For if the darkness and corruption leave 12. A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, 13. Better by far you should forget and smile 14. Than that you should remember and be sad. TONE is calm and accepting VOLTA: The tone changes as she becomes more level-headed She does not want him to mourn too long; the COLON suggests a way how to remember and not mourn May refer to the cause of her death (disease perhaps?) If even a trace of herself remains, she knows the right thing to do would be to let him forget her and live a happy life rather an mourn her forever. IRONY: The last 2 lines provide a direct CONTRAST with the title that demanded remembrance. The SESTET asks the lover to find a way to move forward 1. Identify the tone at the beginning of the poem and how does it change? (3) 2. Was Rossetti was a deeply religious person. Substantiate your response. (3) 3. Which line of the poem shows that the couple expected to share many years of life together? (2) 4. What does “to counsel” (line 8) mean in the context of the poem? (2) 5. Which of the following descriptions best fit the speaker: egocentric; self-sacrificing; thoughtful? Justify your answer by referring to imagery and/or diction. (3) 6. The speaker seems worried. Critically discuss this statement. (3) 7. The speaker has commands in this poem ("remember," "remember," "remember," "do not grieve"). Critically discuss the tone of these commands. (3) 8. Refer to lines 1-2. How do these woerds set the initial mood of the poem. (2) 9. Explain what the use of the phrase ‘the silent land” conveys about the speaker’s state of mind. (2) 10. Refer to line 4. Discuss the significance of this description in the context of the poem. (3)