Remember

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Remember

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.
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.

I think there will be diverse ways to interpret this poem, Remember. What I thought was that the voice, Christina, unfortunately broke up with her lover because she predicted that she would depart her life soon. Therefore, before the death approaches, she is looking back to the times that she spent with her lover. The reason why I thought the voice would die soon was because she said ‘Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land.’ I think the ‘silent land’ in this poem symbolized heaven. Another reason why I inferred the women would die soon was because she said, ‘it will be late to counsel or pray.’ This part saddened me so much since the word ‘late’ meant a lot to me. I personally do not like the word ‘late’; it take the stretch out of me and I automatically become hopeless and desperate. If something is ‘late’, then it becomes difficult to do anything even if you want to; it means you already lost the chance. Afterwards, she asked him to remember her after she left but not to grieve. Moreover, she wanted him to smile rather than being sad. I think she wanted him to keep all the memories and precious times that they spent together. She counted the vestige of the thoughts that she once had was also memorable and beautiful moments. Personally, I felt sympathetic towards the miserable and unfortunate couple. If I were to be in a similar situation, I don’t think I can handle the pressure. However, even though they cannot stay together and love each other forever, I believe that the guy will remember the old days and have a time to reflect on the lovely times that they had once cherished.