Remember

Question 1

Summarise the poem ‘Remember’?

Answer 1

• A Petrarchan sonnet where a dying speaker instructs their lover to hold onto their memory after they have passed into the “silent land”
• It highlights the pain of separation, yet shifts to a selfless acceptance, suggesting it is better for the lover to forget and be happy than to remember and feel sad

Question 2

What Victorian context could ‘Remember’ be centred around?

Answer 2

• Victorian society had strict etiquette regarding mourning, especially for women, who were often expected to remain in mourning for long periods - she subverts this by contrasting this with a more liberating, personal plea to smile and forget
• Encourages an afterlife through memory in a society experiences a crisis in faith and a rise in agnosticism (we gain immortality through remembrance)

Question 3

What poetic form is ‘Remember’ written in and how is it subverted?

Answer 3

• Petrarchan Sonnet
• Traditionally sonnets are used to depict unrequited love however she transgresses this convention as she would rather her lover forget her after death if he cannot be happy