Remember was written in Victorian times. It tells the story of someone who is talking to a loved one who they have lost touch with. It seems that the person has gone away permanently and has probably died. We can deduce from the description of where the person has gone ‘….far away into the silent land.’ I think that ‘the silent land’ refers to heaven.
There is no indication of who the loved one in question is, but I assume that is a lover rather than a member of the family or a friend. The person in the poem is talking to one particular person rather that a group. We know this because the ‘you’ singular is often used, ‘When you can…’ and ‘…you should forget…’ one can therefore rule out a family member because you would expect some body to talk to their entire or close family as a group. Also, the language used indicates that the poem is directed to a lover and someone who the person wanted to spend time with in future, ‘When you can no more hold me by the hand.’ and ‘…our future that you planned.’ There is no reference to the gender of the person, but I assume that it is a woman because the poet is a woman and therefore would find it easier to write from a woman’s point of view. It is a truly tragic case of true love that went drastically wrong, however, the deceased woman does not want her lover to be sad. It is a very touching poem.
On the other hand, message displays a totally different kind of love. It is a typical case of unrequited love. It tells the story of a desperate woman, who is deeply in love with a man that she knows. Unfortunately, it seems as though the man does not feel the same about her, or ignoring her. The woman is becoming increasingly frustrated that the man has failed to contact her, using such phrases as, ‘you want to get to know me at a rate that’s guaranteed to drive me to despair’ and ‘please don’t hesitate, pick up the phone.’ In her desperation, the woman uses a few different techniques to persuade him to contact her. Firstly, the woman says that soon she will fall out of love with him if he doesn’t contact her soon, ‘love is already turning to hate’ and ‘very soon ill start to look else where.’ Then she tries to get across the point that she will be the last chance he has to find love, ‘…consummate our friendship while we still have teeth and hair…you are forty eight’ The point of their being no time to lose is repeated throughout the poem, ‘there is no time to spare’ ,’very soon ill start to look elsewhere’ ,’love is already turning to hate’ and ‘ pick up the phone.’ This repetition really adds effect to the poem and makes the desperation of this woman seem much more drastic.
In my view both poems were exceptional and have been written with great imagination and skill. However, there is little in the way of poetic devices such as metaphors and similes in either of the poems, with the exception of ‘silent land’ in Remember. This is disappointing as I find such devices a treat to read and decipher. On the other hand I did enjoy the repetition in message because it created a great atmosphere. I find it very hard to choose my favourite out of the two, but I feel I could relate more to message due to the more up to date concepts of love. Also, it was set in London, which is obviously where I live. As much as I liked the language in Remember, it did not have a good feel to it. I like a poem to have verses and a good rhyming scheme, which Message did have. Finally, I particularly liked the final line in Message, which sums up the entire poem, ‘pick up the phone.’ It rounded the poem off nicely. After studying these poems and on second readings, I have noticed many devices and techniques used in poem and uncovered many things that I did not understand fully on first glance. Hopefully, this will help me in the future to write great poems. I now truly admire all poets out there who can write such meaningful things.
