Comparison
of Love in Cristina Rossetti’s ‘Remember’ & William Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet
18’
‘Sonnet 18’ depicts
the simplicity and loveliness of someone’s dear beloved, on the surface, highlighting
the attempt to maintain a young man’s beauty for all time by comparing “thee to
a summer’s day”. Deeper analysis suggests summer tends to unpleasant extremes
of windiness and heat, but their beloved is deemed always as “more lovely and
temperate”, anyhow. ‘Remember’ is representative of a romantic love, shared
between a woman and a man. It was written during the Victorian era, a time
where poetry about love may seem sentimental, but in fact display strong
undercurrents of passionate feelings, such as in “hold me by the hand”.
In ‘Sonnet
18’, summer is compared to as “the eye of heaven”, reinforcing the mesmerizing,
wondrous nature of it. Additionally, by
describing summer as “eternal”, the speaker promises beauty will always be
embodied in the sonnet. The rhyming couplet ending the sonnet proposes further
that beauty will not perish, as it’s preserved in the words, “so long as men
can breathe”. Both texts have religious references including a mention to “pray”
and “silent land” in ‘remember’, and “heaven” in the sonnet. “Silent land”
could be symbolic of religious land being either heaven or hell, indicative of
the idea of death.
The idea of
love and death in ‘Remember’ are intertwined as if they are inseparable
components of life, similar to ‘Sonnet 18’. Rossetti eventually becomes aware of
the fact its acceptable for her loved one to be happy, as she gets closer to death, even
if she isn't there “better by far you should forget and smile”. The message of
the poem declares we must start taking action now, and not wait till death
breathes down our necks. Her voice turns kind, reassuring and accepting towards
the end of the poem. “Forget and smile” are compassionate, loving words far
from commanding and threatening. Likewise, Shakespeare’s words “darling buds of
May” in ‘Sonnet 18’ places focus on the sweet, caring voice permeating the verse.
Moreover,
both texts display use of imagery to do with death. Line 11 of the sonnet beginning
with “Nor shall death brag” underlines the fact that not everything should
change even if death is a result, which is also the message in Rossetti’s ‘Remember’
as instead of grieving, “do not grieve”, Rossetti has realized it’s better for
her lover to enjoy life with her in the back of mind, remembered, than to live
his life in sorrow and never experience the beauty of life.
Love is characterized
as having the potential of being dangerous in ‘Sonnet 18’, suggested in “rough
winds” highlighting summer days can end with an extreme change in motion, and
are not “lovely” all of the time. A summer’s day is fleeting and “nature’s
changing course” is around the corner, placing emphasis on how autumn comes
after. In resemblance, Rossetti too indicates how the nature of the love she’s
experienced isn't perfect, as the poem is seen as representative of the
constant struggles intertwined with the relentless frivolities she’s encountered;
a mirror image of events in her life. Her tone remains quite pessimistic, as
she acts as if she’ll die any day.
A form of
punctuation ends every line in the sonnet, and this particular feature itself
differentiates it from the usual form of a sonnet, heavy with alliteration and
assonance. Similarly, Rossetti uses some variety in her punctuation, although
mostly commas and colons spread through the poem. Shakespeare and Rossetti
could have done this purposely to exaggerate the darkness and corruption they
could have once faced, but the fact they still have prevailed on in their lives
and see the good instead of dwelling on some bad moments.
The heart
and soul appear like different entities, according to Rossetti. They have
opposite intentions “nor I half turn to go yet turning stay”, implying the heart doesn't want to leave world nor leave beloved behind, yet it will have to due
to the force of nature. The soul, on the other hand, must go where it belongs. Rossetti
mentions of the future in line 6, “you tell me of our future that you plann’d”,
proposing that if she dies, then there is no future. However, her acceptance of
the fact that even though she will die that doesn't mean he should live in
sorrow comes later in the poem in lines 9-10, “yet if you forget me for a while
and afterwards remember, do not grieve”. She just wants her lover to remember
their love and fun times they shared ultimately. In comparison, ‘Sonnet 18’ is
suggestive throughout that the beauty of the man will be everlasting. There’s
an important theme of power voiced by the speaker to defy time and last
forever, carrying beauty to future generations.
M Chacko
Well done M. Chacko! Super work!
ReplyDeleteYour writing is becomingly increasingly sophisticated and shows a real engagement with the poetry. Your analysis is detailed and insightful with excellent and frequent use of quotations to support your interpretation.
To improve: try to develop your ideas in relation to the question. For example, you mention that both texts include ‘religious references’, but what does this tell us about attitudes towards, and ideas about love? Does it suggest that love is divine? Or that love is immortal?
Could you please write a brief paragraph below developing this idea?
ReplyDeleteThe religious references scattered amongst both ‘Sonnet 18’ and ‘Remember’, propose the idea that the divinity of attitudes and ideas about love are immortal. In Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 18’, line 12, “…When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st…” the concept of “eternal lines” suggests the immortality of God. This suggests how his lover is a reflection of God’s existence, and how he perceives her to be a goddess. It also implies that his love for her beautiful, in the light of the God, emphasizing his idea about love being everlasting and divine. Rossetti’s ‘Remember’, even though focusing on human love, takes on the theme of death that will take her to the “silent land” suggesting God’s love overpowering that of man. Rossetti’s idea about love, through use of religious references, hints that it is eternal- being something that is capable of being reflected upon even after her death. Equally, religious themes subtly dominate both texts; however, Shakespeare reiterates the magnificence that belief in religion has on the motion of love, whereas Rossetti heavily investigates the strains between human love and divine love.
M Chacko
The poem was written for a man
Delete