[8] Song

When I am dead, my dearest,
  Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
  Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
  With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
  And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
  I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
  Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
  That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
  And haply may forget.

         -- Christina Rosetti

A lovely if somewhat sentimental poem. Not perhaps as famous as 'Goblin
Market', it is nonetheless a nice example of Rosetti's style - somewhat
melancholy, and permeated by the twilit boundary between life and death,
waking and sleep. It is interesting to contrast her poems with those of
Thomas Hardy, who took a similar but far harsher view of death and oblivion.

Biographical Note: Christina Rosetti, like her more famous brother Dante
Gabriel Rosetti, belonged to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Her 'Goblin
Market' was the first major success of the Brotherhood, and one she never
quite equaled.

  Perhaps she realized that she was unable to write anything better than
  "Goblin Market," or perhaps her "failure" to surpass herself is explained by
  her turn away from poetry to children's stories and religious materials.
                        -- David Cody, on The Victorian Web

See <http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/hypertext/landow/victorian/crossetti/rossetti5.html>

Martin

From: "Haran" <Hercharan@>

Is there some sort of pun on the wilt. That'll be interesting

From: "Celine" <celineandcats@>

I love this poem personally, though Christina Rossetti has written lots
and lots of poems about death, this is one of my favourites. Can ask why
you do not have Goblin Market? 

From: "Celine" <celineandcats@>

I love this poem. Rossetti wrote a lot of death poems, this one is my
favourite. Why haven't you included 'Goblin Market' in the archive?

From: MMelanielm@

Sentimental or not my 79yr old mother, who was a private poet, wants  this 
read at her funeral.  Thank's for the site. 

From: "spunky" <jmarkley@>

I would love a better understanding of this poem that was included in my
sons suicide note to me.