Section B · Anthology PoetryChristina Rossetti · Pre-1900 (1849)
Remember
Christina Rossetti · Section B anthology poem · 30-mark comparison question · Poems are provided in the exam.
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Mrs Rumsey · Edexcel IGCSE AnthologyAnalysis of Remember
Key analysis
⚡ 30-mark poetry question structure: AO2 (analyse language, form, structure — how the writer creates meaning) + AO3 (compare two poems — link them throughout, not one then the other). Both poems are given to you in the exam. Quote precisely and analyse the effect of specific words.
Themes
Death and grief
Memory and forgetting
Love and selflessness
The Victorian preoccupation with death
The tension between remembrance and happiness
Form & Structure
Petrarchan sonnet — 14 lines, volta at line 9 which reverses the argument
Regular rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter — control mirrors the poet's attempt to manage grief
The volta: the speaker changes her mind — she would rather be forgotten than cause unhappiness
Imperative verbs — "Remember", "Forget" — instructions to the loved one
Repetition of "remember" — but the poem ends by releasing the requirement to remember
Key quotes to memorise
"Remember me when I am gone away" — direct address, imperative, assumes death
"Gone far away into the silent land" — euphemism for death, Victorian sensibility
"Better by far you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad" — the volta's gift
"Only remember me; you understand / It will be late to counsel then or pray" — urgency
Exam questions — 2 questions · 17 marks
1 markVolta effect
What is the significance of the volta in Remember?
A Rossetti uses it to change the poem from English to Italian at line 9
B The volta reverses the poem's argument — Rossetti abandons her demand to be remembered, choosing the loved one's happiness over her own immortality
C The volta introduces a new character into the poem
D The volta signals the end of the octave and the start of the rhyme scheme
Write two comparative paragraphs exploring how Remember and Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night present different attitudes towards death and loss.
Hint: Compare throughout. Cover: what attitude to death each poem shows + how form (sonnet vs villanelle) creates meaning + specific language choices + contextual difference.