Discussion Topic
The theme and main idea of Christina Rossetti's poem "When I Am Dead, My Dearest"
Summary:
The theme of Christina Rossetti's poem "When I Am Dead, My Dearest" is the transient nature of life and the inevitability of death. The main idea is that the speaker requests their loved one to move on with life, without mourning excessively, emphasizing that life continues and that memories of the deceased should be cherished without overwhelming sorrow.
What is the theme of Christina Rossetti's poem "When I am dead, my dearest"?
Christina Rossetti's "When I Am Dead, My Dearest" is the speaker's message to her beloved. She tells the beloved that he should not be sad and need not remember her because as she will be dead, she may or may not even know what he is doing in the land of the living.
The first stanza reads,
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. (1-8)
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
I shall not see the shadows,The speaker here repeats three things she "shall not" experience once she is dead and in her grave. She will not longer have human sensory experiences; therefore, she will know nothing of what people do at her grave. She will instead be "dreaming through the twilight" that has no end. She might "remember" or she might "forget." The afterlife is unknown to her. She does not want her beloved to devote so much time and energy mourning her if she does not even know that she will be aware of it in her afterlife.
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. (9-16)
This simple two stanza poem is actually quite a powerful evocation of the state of death and the kind of peace and tranquility that it gives those that die. The biggest emphasis that is placed on the thoughts of the speaker is the way that she will not be bothered by what happens in the world after she leaves it. She urges her audience to "Sing no sad songs for me" and then tells them at the end of the first stanza that they may remember or forget her as they like:
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
Just as she tells those she leaves behind that they are free to remember her or not, so she too is able to do the same, as the last stanza makes clear:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
Note the deliberate repetition of the same ideas and structure to the previous quote. Death is looked upon as some kind of resolution of peace where the troubles of this world pass and humans are unaffected by them and also they are beyond being hurt by other humans, and whether they are remembered or not. In this poem, death is looked upon positively, as suggested by the adverb "haply," which indicates the speaker has reached a position of acceptance of her imminent death and she is almost looking forward to the peace it will give her.
What is the main idea of Christina Rossetti's poem "When I Am Dead, My Dearest"?
The main idea behind the poem is that one should calmly accept the inevitable death that awaits us all. To that end, the speaker urges her beloved not to grieve over her death in the conventional manner when the time comes. There must be no planting of roses at her grave and no singing of sad, mournful songs. Instead, the speaker's lover should "Be the green grass above me", i.e., he should move on with his life. Whether he remembers his dear departed or forgets about her altogether, it doesn't really matter. Either way, she'll still be dead.
The second stanza is deliberately ambiguous, reflecting the inability of any one of us to talk meaningfully about what happens to us when we die. The speaker can tell us what it won't be like when she passes away, but not what it will be like. After she's departed and her soul finally reposes in the twilight of eternity, either she will remember her life on earth or she will have forgotten about it altogether, just as the speaker's beloved will either remember or forget all about her when she's gone, as we've already seen. In both cases, it doesn't much matter, because in the final analysis, the speaker will still be dead.
References