Beyond the Verse Faith and Femininity in Christina Rossetti's 'Remember'
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe focus on Christina Rossetti’s ‘Remember,’ one of the most enduring sonnets of the Victorian period.
After Maiya’s reading, they look at Rossetti’s background: her Italian literary family, her early breakdown at fourteen, her deep commitment to Anglo-Catholic faith, and her choice to remain unmarried despite several proposals. These details help frame the intensity and restraint within her poetry.
The hosts examine the poem’s Petrarchan sonnet form, with its octave demanding remembrance and its sestet softening into acceptance. They discuss how the volta shifts the tone from insistence to selflessness, where the speaker prioritizes her loved one’s peace over her own memory.
Rossetti’s use of euphemistic language for death—“the silent land,” “gone away”—is considered in relation to Victorian ideals, religious imagery, and comparisons with other poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Dylan Thomas. They also consider whether the addressee might be her former fiancé, a family member, or a more universal figure, and how the act of remembrance can be both intimate and impersonal.
The episode closes by reflecting on how ‘Remember’ balances personal grief with broader cultural expectations of Victorian womanhood, showing both conformity and quiet resistance. Rossetti’s restraint becomes a kind of power, allowing her to leave a lasting legacy through poetry.
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