Remember

Question 1

“Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;”

Answer 1

Remember:
- “Far” reinforces distance between the lover and the speaker in heaven
- “Silent land” metaphor for the peace and hope found in heaven
- Imperative “Remember”, empowered in heaven commanding her lover to think of her

Question 2

“When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.”

Answer 2

Remember:
- Shows a semblance of hesitation in her manner
- Speaker presented as not fully reconciled with death
- Life in Victorian times was fragile and even the wealthy could die from infection and illness
- Tactile image reflects that although her physical body is gone, she remains in spirit

Question 3

“Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.”

Answer 3

Remember:
- Shift to conditional “only”
- “Understand” mirrors her conflicting passion and clinical approach to death
- Seems as if she is consoling her lover, comforting him through grief
- Shows shift in tone as the speaker drifts from the idilic image of her lover remembering her

Question 3

“Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:”

Answer 3

Remember:
- Volta, shows change in attitude of the speaker
- Alongside God in heaven, she is empowered with the choice to let her lover go
- Comforts him “do not grieve”, she is moving on and so should he

Question 4

“Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.”

Answer 4

Remember:
- Hyperbole “by far”
- Speaker reaches a resolution that her lover should forget her and move on his life rather than lingering in grief
- Endstopping refelcts finality of the speakers choice to distance herself from her lover, have found joy in heaven along side God