Compare the different ways in which the poets of Remember, When We Two Parted and Never Give All The Heart write about separation. Attitudes towards love during the 19th century compared to ones

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Zhi Ying Ho        Analysis of love poetry        18th June 2004

Compare the different ways in which the poets of Remember, When We Two Parted and Never Give All The Heart write about separation.

Attitudes towards love during the 19th century compared to ones we have today can be seen as greatly different. This is mainly due to the social conventions of the time. Generally, it was far more restrictive and men were seen as superior to women.  This is why viewpoints of a man about love at that time differed greatly from viewpoints of a woman.

But however much attitudes to love have changed, one fact remains the same: love makes everyone go through similar stages. Main stages include the preliminary stage of falling in love; the process of being in love, unrequited or returned; and finally, falling out of love or separation of some sort.

The poems I have chosen to analyse fall in the last category as they deal with both falling out of love and a separation of some kind. These poems are Remember by Christina Rossetti, written in 1849; When We Two Parted by Lord Byron, written in 1813 and Never Give All The Heart by W.B Yeats written in 1904.

Firstly, Remember by Christina Rossetti. The title itself is poignant and mysterious which encourages the reader to read on. The structure of the whole poem is simple in a series of three systematic quatrains. Within each quatrain itself, lines 1 and 4 rhyme and lines 2 and 3 rhyme. Every single line contains 10 syllables. These are the characteristics of a sonnet and it goes to show the conformity of the whole poem. The use of the sonnet emphasises this desperation for structure. She is clinging on to whatever fragments of structure she can have. Within this form, the context reveals that her whole life is falling apart: she is slowly dying, and at the start of the poem, desperately wanting her lover to continue remembering her after her death.

“Remember me when I’m gone away,” The first line of the poem is stating her point and shows the tone is pleading. She then provides visual imagery by saying: “Gone far away into the silent land.” “Silent land”, makes it sound isolated. It shows her uncertainty and anxiety. More visual imagery is added as she tells him that he “can no more hold” her “by the hand.” She portrays herself as the weak one who needs to be protected and cherished. In this “silent land”, she will be lonely and solitary. She then moves on to say that she “half turns to go yet turning stay.” She emphasises the fact that she wants to linger and not leave, but yet, she can’t.

She starts the second stanza in the same manner. “Remember me when no more day by day, you tell me of out future that you plann’d” It’s re-stating the point she is trying to make by calling attention again to it, thus stressing it. Also, from this line, we can look at how attitudes towards the roles of men and women were in the 19th century. Women were expected to submissive to whatever the man’s whim would be without question. This can be seen at how the poet states, “You tell me of our future that you plann’d.” Even though it was their future together, in was singly planned by the man and the woman had had no say in it at all. Men were the bosses. This again underlines the 19th century context of the poem

For the third time, she now repeats “only remember me; you understand.” This seems to be a genuine and earnest plea. The language is simple which makes it seem like the line is devoid of pretence. This is also probably also the key to why the poem works so well. She accentuates the effect of that line by displaying signs of nervousness in the next line. She says, “it will be late to counsel then or pray.” The reader knows for sure now that she fears that she’s dying.

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From the next stanza onwards, there is a change in tone. It is almost as if through the writing of the poem, the poet has come to a decision. The whole poem is practically her thought process. The “yet” in the first line denotes a change of tone. She now tells him that if he should “forget her for a while, and afterwards remember, do not grieve.” The whole poem is now on a different course; it seems as if she wants him to forget her now. She goes on to explain why she says this:

“For ...

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