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Difficulty: Very hardSpeaker and Perspective

Read the following poem by Christina Rossetti (published in 1862) carefully:

(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.
(5) Remember me when no more day by day
(6) You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
(7) Only remember me; you understand
(8) It will be late then to counsel or to pray.
(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.

Which of the following best describes the development of the speaker's perspective over the course of the poem?

  1. A
    The poet's personal confrontation with her terminal illness evolves into a generalized philosophical treatise on the necessity of mourning
  2. B
    A literal dread of physical decay within the 'silent land' transitions to a comforting belief in the speaker's own spiritual transcendence
  3. A persistent plea to dominate the addressee's memory of the past gives way to a compassionate release of the addressee from the burden of griefAnswer
  4. D
    A static, unwavering expression of melancholy that remains emotionally unchanged from the octave through the sestet
  5. E
    A mechanical list of instructions for mourning that relies on religious ritual to resolve the speaker's fear of oblivion

Answer

A persistent plea to dominate the addressee's memory of the past gives way to a compassionate release of the addressee from the burden of grief
The correct answer accurately traces the speaker's development from the octave, where the speaker repetitively commands the addressee to 'Remember me,' to the sestet, where the speaker pivots at the volta ('Yet if you should forget me...') to prioritize the addressee's peace, stating that it is better for the addressee to 'forget and smile' than to 'remember and be sad.'

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the speaker's tone and demands in the octave (lines 1-8).
The speaker repeatedly insists on being remembered ('Remember me,' 'Only remember me'), revealing an anxious attempt to retain a presence in the addressee's life after death.
Establishing the starting point of the speaker's perspective is necessary to track how it develops.
2
Identify and analyze the structural shift or volta at line 9.
Line 9 introduces a contrast ('Yet if you should forget me... do not grieve'), shifting the focus from the speaker's desire to be remembered to the addressee's emotional well-being.
Recognizing structural shifts in poetry is essential for interpreting developments in speaker perspective.
3
Synthesize the resolution in the sestet (lines 9-14) with the octave's attitude.
The speaker concludes that the addressee's happiness ('forget and smile') is preferable to their shared sorrow ('remember and be sad'), demonstrating a transition from control to selfless release.
Combining the analysis of both parts of the sonnet yields the complete trajectory of the speaker's perspective.

Key Concept

Analyzing shifts in a speaker's perspective and attitude within a poetic structure.
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Topics

Speaker and Perspective

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