By presenting this image of an ideal ceremony occurring above her grave through the first stanza, Rossetti differentiates between underground as being the stage of death, and above ground as being the stage of life. Each stanza, therefore, structurally demonstrates this notion of life above and death below as Rossetti places the stanza regarding the ceremonies above the second stanza, which enters the realm of unknown, where Rossetti offers her view of the afterlife from deep beneath the ground in her grave. In the first stanza, Rossetti requests her dearly loved to perform certain actions “above” her grave once she dies. Rossetti, in her poem, ponders upon death and whether or not her beloved and she may “remember” each other after she dies. Rossetti employs this method of confusion throughout her poem in order to establish a comparison between the perplexity with which humans view death and the optimism with which Rossetti views it. On average, Rossetti uses 6.7 syllables per line, which, in a way, conveys the sensation of uneasiness and uncertainty that humans feel towards the notion of death since the syllables irregularly vary per line. Even though Rossetti writes six of the sixteen lines in iambic trimeter, the abundance of variation throughout the octaves portrays the poem as more of a free verse. She presents her stanzaic poem through two octaves with the pattern iambic abc4b3deFE3. Yet, figuratively, the poem conveys the poet’s perception of death as a dreamy, intermediate existence that compares to “twilight”.Ĭhristina Rossetti strategically structures her poem, “When I am dead, my dearest” to convey her notion of love and death. A resigned tone to the attitudes of the narrator, she has accepted her death before she has died.The poem literally illustrates the speaker’s reflection upon whether or not he or she and the “dearest” shall remember one another when the speaker dies. Reflective attitudes, mournful yet accepting tone. Regular form, indentation on every 2nd line the imprints of people on our lives? See diction above (Lots of natural imagery, Romantic poets' influence etc.) As death is one of the few regularities in all of our lives. This regularity perhaps shows the organised, inevitability of death. The rhyme scheme is abcb, the two octave stanzas are separated into 2 quatrains which both follow abcb rhyme patterns. Strong sense of rhythm and rhyme, a lyric poem which was popular in the mid 19th century. Symbols: ' Roses.' this use of flowers is a symbol for love, not of death as lilies are the typical funeral flowers. The archaism also develops a solemn tone. Archaic terms: 'Haply.' which means 'perhaps' showing the narrator's uncertainty. Further showing her inner strength which is shown in direct address through the use of these imperatives. Imperative sentences: 'Plant.Be.' which show a soft, quiet confidence and persuasion. The natural imagery shows the Romantic poets' influence on Rossetti (Especially when writing about death or love) Parallelism and Dichotomies: 'And if thou wilt remember,/ And if thou wilt, forget.' Idealistic diction with archaic, natural imagery: ' And dreaming through the twilight.' Frequent use of colons and semi-colons (Similar to 'Maude Clare', Poem #8 and 'No, Thank You, John', Poem #10) Death, loss, reflection, remembrance after death, resigned acceptance of the inevitability of death, religion. To contradict the traditional views of death/bereavement from Rossetti's era. Rossetti is ahead of her time by questioning the values and attitudes of her era. A woman who is thinking of death, speaking to her lover/romantic partner and explaining that he/she should not mourn her death, refuting the tradition Victorian attitudes - and their process - of mourning.
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