Compare and Contrast the ways in which Christina Rossetti communicates her attitudes towards death in “Song” and “Remember”

In the two sonnets, “Remember” by Christina Rossetti and “The Cross of Snow” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the authors address death and remembrance indicating similarities when exploring grieving process but also demonstrate its differences through literary techniques. They both utilized symbolism, imagery, and metaphorical language but showed differences in tone.

As people near the time of their deaths, they begin to reflect upon the history and events of their own lives. Both John Keats’ “When I have Fears” and Henry Longfellow’s “Mezzo Cammin” reflect upon the speakers’ fears and thoughts of death. However, the conclusions between these two poems end quite differently. Although both reflect upon Death’s grasp, Keats’ displays an appreciation and subtle satisfaction with the wonders of life, while Longfellow morbidly mourns his past inactions and fears what events the future may bring.

In the first stanza of “Remember”, Rossetti allows the reader to explore the narrator’s thought about death. When she writes “……Gone far away into the silent land;/ When you can no more hold me by the hand….” the narrator believes that death is final because that connection cannot ever be re-established regardless of how much one wants it. The “silent land” and “gone away” are metaphors for death, and when the narrator says that no one will be able to “hold me (her) by the hand”, this symbolises the one thing death takes, the physical presence of the person. Likewise, Auden’s “Stop all of the Clocks”, explores death with imperatives. Auden writes “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,/ Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,/ Silence the pianos and with muffled drum/Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.” Because the narrator wants life to cease, because with the death of their loved one, there is no purpose in life and it simply cannot (……..) .

Although the structure of the poem contributes to its emotiveness the language is also essential to exhibit Rossetti's "passion". The natural imagery in the last three lines of each stanza contrast Rossetti to the natural world, they demonstrate how she feels left out of natural cycles by having no mate. There appears to be a longing to bear children in the last stanza, possibly Rossetti wishes not for the love of a partner but for the love of a child. Nature is usually associated with the idea of mating for

Rossetti, in the above lines, presents her self before her god with an openness of character and strength of faith. She pleads to be judged and her surrender to His will accepted. Like a typical mystic, she surrenders her self before the larger Self and requests submergence into that. She found her refuge in God only. According to C M Bowra, “only in God could she find a finally satisfying object for the abounding love which was the

Since the beginning of time, people have many different ways of going about the idea of death and what the afterlife may hold for them, whether they’ll be reunited with family and friends or if they’ll be reincarnated or, maybe nothing at all. This is true for writers, poets and artists. William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis”, Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” they all center their idea death, but approach it differently and conveys their points differently. One glorifies death, one says life is meaningless and the other glorifies life.

As one of the most frequently used themes, death has been portrayed and understood differently throughout modern history as well as by poets Christina Rossetti and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in “Remember” and the “Cross of Snow.” It appears in literature as the preeminent dilemma, one that is often met by emotions such as grief, hopefulness, depression, and one that can encompass the entire essence of any writing piece. However, despite Rossetti’s “Remember” and Longfellow’s “Cross of Snow” employing death as a universal similarity, the tones, narratives, and syntaxes of the poems help create two entire different images of what the works are about in the readers’ minds.

Both Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Dirge Without Music” and Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” are poems that discuss the emotional repercussions of death and dying. Grieving the loss of a loved one can be an extremely excruciating experience. At times one may feel suffocated by the sorrow and are desperate for a way to find relief from these intense emotions that are apparent in the grieving process. This is where works of literature can be therapeutic when dealing with difficult emotions. Poetry can be extremely helpful in this sense as one of its purposes is to emphasize certain feelings, ones that we feel but are not sure how to process. It can bring to life what we wish we could do or say, but are not able to. By cross-referencing

Contrasting her positive thoughts of living life to the full, Rossetti also releases her inner emotions regarding her own experience of not being successful in love and consequently was unable to enjoy life like others do. Through ‘song’, “Who look upon them hand in hand”, Rossetti realises how nicer the world could be if she was able to share it with someone special. “Two doves upon the self same branch”, using the recurring motif of ‘innocence and purity’, Rossetti attempts to see life as others do who take time to observe the beauty that surrounds them, and wishes that she could be as content, “Oh happy they who look on them”. Aware that she looks at herself and her life in bleak terms Rossetti affirms, “Who look upon them hand in hand/ and never give a thought to night” as she constantly refers to

Death has captured the mind very early on and since then it has driven us to create some of the most powerful images in the world. In this essay I am going to discuss why art often symbolizes death and some of the complex ways in which art represents death.

Within the four pieces of literature, the theme is different people have contrastive opinions and reactions when it comes to loss. In Ed Sheeran’s “Supermarket Flowers”, a tribute to his deceased grandmother, he uses a metaphor to compare his grandmother to an angel in the line, “You were an angel in the shape of my mum”. He describes from his mother’s point of view how his grandmother was this angelic person by comparing her to an angel. By comparing her to an angel, Sheeran tells the audience how his grandmother always belonged in heaven. Sheeran uses this device to show the extent of his grandmother’s kind personality and that he’s glad that she can rest in peace in heaven.

Poetic form used correctly can be an effective tool for giving the reader the desired feel or impression of a piece. Poet’s e. e. cummings, John Dryden, Dudley Randall and Dylan Tomas all effectively discuss the topic of death. Even though these poets use different forms and treatments to discuss this topic, some congruity between their pieces exists. The different forms used by these authors are open, neoclassic couplet, ballad, and villanelle. e. e. cummings uses the open form in “Buffalo Bill’s Defunct.”

Comparing Christina Rosetti's Approach to the Subject of Death in After Death, Remember, Song and Dream

The threat of death often moves one to fulfill their life, and can inspire poetry. This theme of a joyous life before death is seen in both the poem “Death” by Rainer Maria Rilke and the song “We Might Be Dead Tomorrow” by Soko. Although these two pieces follow the same theme, they are widely different in how they include poetic devices in the piece. Song and poetry are viewed differently considering that a song often focuses on the music behind the lyrics more than the lyrics themselves, whereas a poem is focused on using words and poetic devices to fulfill its purpose and theme. Claire Dederer, a writer from the Poetry Foundation, suggests that “Song lyrics do a fine imitation of poetry, but they’re not quite the same thing. Lyrics are a

What comes to mind upon hearing the word death? “Wanting To Die” by Anne Sexton is a poem is confessional poetry, which describes the obsession of death due to the stress and depress on life of the author. [Create a more engaging/imaginative opening] Besides that, back to those years, confessional poetry is always the announcement of the death of poets who want to end up their life due to unhappiness, loneliness or depression like Anne Sexton. Anne Sexton draws a picture of her life with full of loneliness, unhappiness and confusions that had led her to the thought of death as the only way to be free from her depressing life which is foreseeable in her poems at her crisis time, such as “Wanting to die”. She provides many different reasons on why she wanted to end her own life, even though her own life had so much to offer and she had her own family.