Remember' and 'Refugee Mother and Child
English Literature: Poetry
Introduction and analysis to the two poems
‘Remember’:
This is a beautiful poem written by the poet Christina Rossetti. Rossetti is known for her contrasting themes of love and death she puts into her poems, ‘Remember’ is no exception.
It is quite obvious that Rossetti is talking to a loved one in the poem, most likely a lover. From researching, I have found that Rossetti wrote this poem when she was still in love with Charles Cayley, and also the fact that there is correlation between her life experience and her poems. Falling in love with Charles Cayley, calling off their engagement, and publishing lots of poems, which then became her greatest collection of work. The struggle between the good times and the bad in “Remember” could happen to be a mirror image of the events of her life.
We can also see that there is a sort of conflict between remembering and forgetting for Rossetti in the poem. From lines 1-8 of the poem she kept on repeating the word ‘remember’. However, during lines 9-14, Rossetti kept on suggesting to the person that he/she should forget her if it bought him/her negative feelings. So there is some sort of battle going on between remembering and forgetting throughout the poem.
The poem is also set up with the rhyme scheme of ABBAABBAAB. It is set up because it creates a demanding effect for the requests and suggestions Rossetti makes in the poem.
Overall, I think that ‘Remember’ is a very pessimistic poem as Rossetti is hinting that she could die on any day. The reality however, was that she did not die until 32 years after she wrote the poem.
‘Refugee Mother and Child’:
This is another beautiful yet sad poem. It is written by Chinua Achebe, who is a novelist, professor, poet and a critic. His mother was born in a refugee camp. During her time in the camp, she drew a of a mother holding her dying son in her hands for the last time, this picture portrays the inevitability and the pain involved in the
Introduction and analysis to the two poems
‘Remember’:
This is a beautiful poem written by the poet Christina Rossetti. Rossetti is known for her contrasting themes of love and death she puts into her poems, ‘Remember’ is no exception.
It is quite obvious that Rossetti is talking to a loved one in the poem, most likely a lover. From researching, I have found that Rossetti wrote this poem when she was still in love with Charles Cayley, and also the fact that there is correlation between her life experience and her poems. Falling in love with Charles Cayley, calling off their engagement, and publishing lots of poems, which then became her greatest collection of work. The struggle between the good times and the bad in “Remember” could happen to be a mirror image of the events of her life.
We can also see that there is a sort of conflict between remembering and forgetting for Rossetti in the poem. From lines 1-8 of the poem she kept on repeating the word ‘remember’. However, during lines 9-14, Rossetti kept on suggesting to the person that he/she should forget her if it bought him/her negative feelings. So there is some sort of battle going on between remembering and forgetting throughout the poem.
The poem is also set up with the rhyme scheme of ABBAABBAAB. It is set up because it creates a demanding effect for the requests and suggestions Rossetti makes in the poem.
Overall, I think that ‘Remember’ is a very pessimistic poem as Rossetti is hinting that she could die on any day. The reality however, was that she did not die until 32 years after she wrote the poem.
‘Refugee Mother and Child’:
This is another beautiful yet sad poem. It is written by Chinua Achebe, who is a novelist, professor, poet and a critic. His mother was born in a refugee camp. During her time in the camp, she drew a of a mother holding her dying son in her hands for the last time, this picture portrays the inevitability and the pain involved in the