The Full Text of “Remember”
1Remember 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,
4Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
5Remember me when no more day by day
6 You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
7 Only remember me; you understand
8It will be late to counsel then or pray.
9Yet 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,
13Better by far you should forget and smile
14 Than that you should remember and be sad.
The Full Text of “Remember”
1Remember 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,
4Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
5Remember me when no more day by day
6 You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
7 Only remember me; you understand
8It will be late to counsel then or pray.
9Yet 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,
13Better by far you should forget and smile
14 Than that you should remember and be sad.
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“Remember” Introduction
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“Remember” Summary
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“Remember” Themes
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Love, Memory, and Grief
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Remember”
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Lines 1-2
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land; -
Lines 3-4
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay. -
Lines 5-6
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd: -
Lines 7-8
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray. -
Lines 9-10
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve: -
Lines 11-14
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.
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“Remember” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Apostrophe
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Caesura
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End-Stopped Line
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Enjambment
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Paradox
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Repetition
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Metaphor
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“Remember” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Silent land
- Counsel
- Corruption
- Vestige
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Remember”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Remember” Speaker
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“Remember” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Remember”
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More “Remember” Resources
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External Resources
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More on Rossetti's Life and Work — A short biography and links to more of Rossetti's poems from the Poetry Foundation.
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A Reading of the Poem — Listen to the actor Mairin O'Hagan perform the poem aloud.
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Gender and Power in Rossetti's Work — An article on Christina Rossetti's influence as a feminist thinker.
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Portraits of Rossetti — A selection of portraits of Rossetti from London's National Portrait Gallery. Some depict her with her artistic family, and some are by a member of her artistic family—namely her brother, the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
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The Poem's Manuscript — See pictures of the poem in Rossetti's own handwriting.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Christina Rossetti
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