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 planned:
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.
Poem by Christina Rossetti
Meaning of ‘Remember’ Poem by Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti’s “Remember” is a tender and contemplative poem about love, memory, and the acceptance of loss. Written as a farewell from the speaker to a loved one, it begins with a heartfelt plea to be remembered after death, when physical presence and shared plans are no longer possible.
However, the poem gently shifts in tone. The speaker recognises that memory is fragile and that grief may weigh heavily. In an act of selfless love, she releases her loved one from the burden of sorrow. If forgetting brings peace, she says, “forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad.”
This final thought transforms the poem from a request for remembrance into an expression of emotional generosity. It suggests that true love does not cling; it cares more for the well-being of the one left behind than for its own legacy. In that, “Remember” becomes a quiet meditation on letting go, and on the dignity of love that endures even in absence.
