bored of sc said:
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day.
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
Themes:
1) The nature/power of human memory
2) Immortality through the human memory
3) The instructional nature of humanity
Techniques:
> Rhyme scheme: ABBAABBACDDECE (I think) at line 9 the rhyme changes. This is indicative of the 'volta' (the change in tone highlighted by the word 'yet') which reveals the composer's change in perspective and priorities (the composer begins by telling the responder what to do but then changes to tell the them what not to do --> it's almost as if it's the responder's moral obligation to do as the composer wants).
> The tone is didactic (instructional) --> the composer is telling the responder what to do - use of verbs emphasises this.
> "hold me by the hand" --> alliteration --> repetition of 'h' sound --> 'h' sound is relatively weak which reflects the message of the poem: that is, it is not through the physical actions (holding of hands) that we attain immortality but through memory and the literary form of poetry (the preservation of our memory)
> Repetition --> "remember me" --> replicates the nature of memory, that is through repetition of the same thought through the human mind that a memory is created and not forgotten
> juxtaposition/paradox: "forget and smile" --> ignorance is bliss when the memory is of "darkness and corruption", "remember and be sad" is the same as "forget and smile" just the other side of the coin
> first person narration --> personalises and directs the responder to the composer themself, thus achieving the composer's purpose of their need to be remembered
To me the poet is describing their list of moral 'do's' and 'don'ts' that the responder must follow to do the composer's memory 'justice.'
Boredofsc, that analysis is excellent! I really mean it, it is exceptional for a student still studying preliminary english. It's a shame that you're not doing english extension; you have an insightful grasp of textual analysis and elevated understandings.
Just to add to your points.
1) Repetition of first person pronoun ‘I’ establishes the insecurity of the speaker, heightened by the anaphora of ‘gone away,/gone far away’.
2) The alliterative monosyllables of ‘hold me by the hand’ reinforces the anxiety of the speaker’s psychological state, revealing the underlying tension that belies the poet’s cathartic experience.
3) The dominance of caesuras emphasises the disjointed nature of the human mind, particularly when confronted by universal issues of reflective pathos.
Etc etc
I think it is hard to credit the verse as ‘didactic’ purely because the poet represents a subjective state of mind that is far from being objectively ‘instructional’.
Basically, I believe the poem addresses the cycles of flux in human memory, which is a reflection of the philosophical ‘human condition’. This philosophising is expanded upon in the climactic antithesis of “Better by far…Than you should” which forcefully conveys the instability of such musings and returns the poem to its initial underlying tone of melancholy (after modulating into a minor key of muted concern).
Re: Razizi, you're initial observations were more or less correct as well.
