Christina Rossetti’s poem "Remember" was published in 1862 in Goblin Market and Other Poems. Rossetti lived from 1830 to 1894 and was a British poet, although the Italian culture heavily influenced her life and she fluently spoke the language. Many of her poems relate to religion since she was an Evangelical Christian and took her faith seriously—even turning down a marriage proposal due to the fact that the man was a Catholic. Her most famous poem is “Goblin Market”, which is a poem I enjoy thoroughly, however “Remember” is an exceptional poem as well.

“Remember” focuses on a speaker who is dying and how she wants her lover to remember her afterwards. The speaker desires that her lover remembers her, but if he does forget, then this is acceptable since remembering her again could cause him pain and sorrow. Rossetti chose to write this conforming to the format of the Petrarchan sonnet with iambic pentameter. The characteristic volta of these types of sonnets occurs at line eight and is accompanied by a change in ideas.

“Only remember me; you understand/It will be late to counsel then or pray.”

(lines 6,7)

“Yet if you should forget me for a while/And afterwards remember, do not grieve:” (lines 8, 9)

The octet had focused on the imperativeness of her lover remembering her, however at this volta we notice a reflection on the part of the speaker as she realizes that it might be better if he did not remember her if he was to ever forget. To further mark this change in the speaker’s views, Rossetti also adjusts the rhyme scheme found in the sestet to cddece in order to set apart this new idea. Another aspect of this poem that should be noted is the fairly simple diction. Not much exists in the way of figurative language or literary devices which I found to be refreshing as it allows for her to connect easily with readers and present her depiction of these two lovers.

However, the primary reason why I love this poem is not for the rhyme scheme or the formatting, it is the idea found within the sonnet.

“Better by far you should forget and smile/Than that you should remember and be sad.”

This idea is pure. It speaks to the idea of love meaning more than fondness and trying to receive something from relationships. Especially in the current society, love is often associated with the fulfillment of desires. However, as explained in Rossetti’s poem, love sometimes can mean being selfless, allowing another’s happiness to come before one’s own wishes and desires. Indeed, I believe this is a truer idea of love than most we confront every day.