Compare and contrast the ways in which Christina Rossetti communicates her attitudes towards death in ‘Song’, and ‘Remember’ Michael David Broadbent 11th Grade

In both ‘Song’ and ‘Remember’, Rossetti articulates several different attitudes towards death, avoiding any one set approach. In ‘Song’, she uses techniques involving the structure and tone of the poem to communicate that she is in fact happy to be out of the relationship. However, in the poem ‘Remember’, Rossetti uses the displays a much more consoling tone, giving a much different interpretation on death than that of ‘Song’.

In ‘Song’, one of the main themes was the use of natural vocabulary to create a sense of relief. For example, Rossetti writes “I shall not hear the Nightingale Sing on, as if in pain”. This image could possibly suggest that the Nightingale is a metaphor for her relationship, and in death Rossetti has finally escaped from her lover, who may not have cared for her in the way that he should. Another interpretation of this could perhaps be that her lover was not loving towards her, and only acted as though he did at her funeral. This would mean that the “Nightingale” was a metaphor for her lover, and she uses the words “as if” to emphasise that he is perhaps using his state of mourning as a show. The repetition of the words, “I shall not” on the three lines before the Nightingale metaphor also support the...