Christina Rossetti - Remember

Question 1

What is important about the rhyming scheme of the poem?

Answer 1

It is cyclical - ABBA. The major idea in “Remember” is the cyclical nature of life. “there is life, but then there is death, but then there is kind of life again”—A to B to A again.

Question 2

Describe where there is alliteration?

Answer 2

• In the first section to soften the commanding blow.
• A lot of H words in “When you can no more hold me by the hand, / Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay”
• Those soft, breathy Hs make the line seem less sharp and demanding, more desperate in a way with the panting desire of the speaker’s plea.