'Song' and 'Remember' by Christina Rossetti both explore her views on death and the after-life. In both, Rossetti describes death as freedom, this could be due to the restraints Victorian women faced in life. Moreover, Rossetti compels the reader to abandon the consensual rituals for grieving.
In 'Song', Rossetti imagines her death in, and leaves instructions to the reader on how to deal with her death. Rossetti once again wants to break away from any societal norm, even after her death, and rejects common rituals such as when the speaker says "plant thou no roses at [their] head". Although normally this would be considered respectful, Rossetti doesn't want any cliche's. Instead, the persona asks the reader to "be the green grass above [them]". A much more humble request than roses, it reflects the common saying "the grass is greener on the other side". The persona wants the reader to move on, if they perform all the consensual rituals they will stay mournful and sad, but if they are the "green grass" then they will be able to move on from her death.
Similarly, in 'Remember', Rossetti once again takes control of how her death will be dealt with, commanding the reader in what they should and shouldn't do. This assertiveness suggests Rossetti empowering herself, and breaking away from the traditional Victorian values where it is the man who decides everything. 'Remember' reinforces this, where the speaker calls out the reader: "You tell me of our future that you plann'd". The pronouns are significant as they expose the patriarchal constraints that Victorian women faced. Although it was their future, it was the reader that dictated what would happen, and only now in death is the persona able to break free, and in 'Song' it is illustrated with a nightingale: "I shall not hear the nightingale / sing on, as if in pain". The nightingale is the speaker, and upon their death they will no longer have to "sing on as if in pain", pain brought on by the constrictions Victorian women had to deal with.
Not only does Rossetti address death, but she also talks about life after death. In the second stanza in 'Song', the speaker describes life after death as "dreaming through the twilight". "twilight" is when it is no longer day, but not yet night - a liminal state. From this it's right to presume that Rossetti considers life after death to be in a sort of everlasting 'limbo', where the days "doth not rise nor set". However, the speaker does not consider this to be a bad thing, "dreaming" has positive connotations that imply that life after death will be a long peaceful sleep. And, in 'Remember', the speaker uses the euphemism "silent land" to symbolise death. The fact that the speaker uses "silent land" suggests that they believe in a life after death, and that they may be physically gone but their soul may live on. This would coincide with Rossetti's religious views, as she was a very devout Anglican. "Silent" further suggests that Rossetti imagines life after death to be peaceful, as in both 'Song' and 'Remember', both speakers describe life after death to be an absence of any sensations: "I shall not feel the rain".
Rossetti's ideas of life after death are also illustrated through the rhythm in the poem 'Song'. In the final two lines of the poem, the speaker contemplates what she will know beyond the grave. The penultimate line is: "Haply I may remember". This line has a trochaic rhythm, which contrasts with the majority of the poem that follows an iambic rhythm. Following that, is: "And haply may forget". The final line follows the rhythm of the poem perfectly with an iambic trimeter. What the penultimate line suggests is that for a second the speaker falters in her seemingly certain views on the after-life, hence the contrasting rhythm, and then straight after the speaker comforts themselves once more with the idea of forgetting, and the rhythm resumes back to normal. Furthermore, the word "forget" kills the rhythm, and displays an feeling of inevitability and finality. It shows the speaker's certainty towards the matter. It could also be the speaker's last breath, and in fact this was all being said to the reader at their deathbed, and after they had delivered the instructions to the reader and consumed themselves with notions of "dreaming through the twilight", they were able to let go, and thus "forget".
'Remember' is in the style of a sonnet. This is significant because normally a sonnet is a love poem for a woman. Rossetti takes this and makes it her own, turning it into an assertive list to the reader, where the speaker plans her own death after having their whole life planned for them. This creates very anti-romantic connotations, displaying that Rossetti is tired of the patriarchy and so she warps the consensual idea of a sonnet.
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