English Literature: Poetry Essay

This is a beautiful poem written by the poet Christina Rossetti. Rossetti is known for her contrasting themes of love and death she puts into her poems, ‘Remember’ is no exception. It is quite obvious that Rossetti is talking to a loved one in the poem, most likely a lover. From researching, I have found that Rossetti wrote this poem when she was still in love with Charles Cayley, and also the fact that there is correlation between her life experience and her poems. Falling in love with Charles Cayley, calling off their engagement, and publishing lots of poems, which then became her greatest collection of work. The struggle between the good times and the bad in â€Å"Remember† could happen to be a mirror image of the events of her life. We can also see that there is a sort of conflict between remembering and forgetting for Rossetti in the poem. From lines 1-8 of the poem she kept on repeating the word ‘remember’. However, during lines 9-14, Rossetti kept on suggesting to the person that he/she should forget her if it bought him/her negative feelings. So there is some sort of battle going on between remembering and forgetting throughout the poem. The poem is also set up with the rhyme scheme of ABBAABBAAB. It is set up because it creates a demanding effect for the requests and suggestions Rossetti makes in the poem. Overall, I think that ‘Remember’ is a very pessimistic poem as Rossetti is hinting that she could die on any day. The reality however, was that she did not die until 32 years after she wrote the poem. ‘Refugee Mother and Child’: This is another beautiful yet sad poem. It is written by Chinua Achebe, who is a novelist, professor, poet and a critic. His mother was born in a refugee camp. During her time in the camp, she drew a of a mother holding her dying son in her hands for the last time, this picture portrays the inevitability and the pain involved in the deaths of loved ones. This poem is most likely in dedication to Achebe’s mother. The poem is about a mother, spending the last few moments with her dying son, combing his rust-coloured hair in a place with the aura of disease and sickness. From some intensive research, I found out that the child in the poem is suffering from a disease called â€Å"Kwashiorkor†, which is protein deficiency. Refugee Mother and Child† also foreshadows the death of the child, this is proven when on the third and the last line of the poem. It is describes the agony of a mother watching her child die, some people may compare this scene to Holy Mother Mary and Jesus, when Jesus was slowly dying on the cross. Achebe is part Christian and could have intentionally linked the poem and the things in the bible. There is also something that is slightly controversial in the poem. The fact that â€Å"Most mother there had long since ceased to care†, makes us feel that the mothers are being horrible, selfish and heartless for not caring about their children dying. Then again, the process of watching a beloved child die in their arms could have happened so many times that they got used to it. But I personally think that it is wrong to simply not care. All in all it is a beautiful poem which has touched my heart and to the people who I’ve shown it to in my family, it subtly describes the pain of losing a loved one and it brings back sad and horrifying memories. How they have been successful? ‘Remember’ (by Christina Rossetti) and ‘Refugee Mother and Child’ (by Chinua Achebe) are both poems which portray people approaching death. This essay will explain how each poet has been successful in writing about death. Both the poets give the impression that death is something strangely serene, there are no mentions of violent things taking place. The poems also suggest that death is certain to happen to everyone. In addition, the poets talk about death in the poems as if it were imminent, an event that will change everything. In ‘Remember’ death is described as the reason why Rossetti and the person she is referring to in the poem are separated. It is presented as something that the poet does not want to happen, to leave the person she loves. From her suggestions in the poem and her action, it is evident that the truly loved whoever this poem is for. ‘Refugee Mother and Child’ presents death as a creeping shadow, gradually taking the child into its grasp. This poem does not tell us that the child is dead, only that he is terribly ill and on the verge of passing away. Death has become something that will happen to the child, and already, it is haunting the mother like a ghost.