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Difficulty: MediumThematic Argumentation in Poetry

Read the following poem by Christina Rossetti (1830–1894), published in 1862:

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 planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late then to counsel 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.

In the context of the poem's thematic argumentation, how does the shift in the final six lines (the sestet) modify the speaker's initial demand for remembrance?

  1. A
    It biographicalizes the speaker's voice to directly express the poet's own historical fears of death and her wish to be remembered by future readers.
  2. B
    It provides a literal narrative summary of the speaker's journey into the afterlife, describing the physical landscape of the silent land.
  3. It qualifies the initial insistence on constant remembrance by prioritizing the beloved's emotional well-being over the speaker's own desire for a lasting legacy.Answer
  4. D
    It maintains a uniform tone of urgent demand, warning the beloved that forgetting will lead to immediate spiritual corruption.
  5. E
    It interprets the silent land as a literal, physical setting rather than a metaphor for death's ultimate separation.

Answer

The shift in the sestet qualifies the initial insistence on constant remembrance by prioritizing the beloved's emotional well-being over the speaker's own desire for a lasting legacy.
The correct option is correct because the sestet introduces a conditional shift ('Yet if you should forget me...') that resolves in a selfless prioritization of the beloved's happiness over the speaker's desire to be remembered, thus qualifying the octave's urgent commands.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the first eight lines (the octave) of the sonnet.
The speaker repeatedly demands to be remembered ('Remember me', 'Only remember me'), establishing a strong desire for an enduring presence in the beloved's mind after death.
To understand the initial position of the poem's thematic argument.
2
Identify the structural and tonal transition in line 9.
The volta, marked by 'Yet,' shifts the focus from a demand for remembrance to a conditional consideration of the beloved forgetting ('Yet if you should forget me for a while...').
To pinpoint where and how the thematic argument begins to change.
3
Evaluate the resolution of the argument in the final lines.
The speaker concludes that it is 'Better by far you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad,' which places the beloved's happiness above the speaker's own memory.
To determine the final position of the thematic argument and see how it modifies the initial demand.

Key Concept

Thematic Argumentation and Structural Shifts in Poetry
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Thematic Argumentation in Poetry

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