Comparison Between "Remember" And "The Cross Of Snow" Essay Examples

These two sonnets, “Remember” and “The Cross of Snow” are well composed to convey the feelings of sadness after death but differently. Christina Rossetti’s speaker in “Rememer” wants to be remembered initially but later in the poem does not mind if forgotten ‘for a while’ after death. On the other hand, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s speaker in the “The Cross of Snow” has not been able to forget his loved one for the past eighteen years. Longfellow makes use of religious imagery and metaphor to convey the message of the speaker.
One noticeable difference between both the poems is that of time element. Rossetti’s speaker speaks in the present, ‘when I am gone away’, while Longfellow’s speaker speaks of the past, happened ‘eighteen years’ ago. The expressions, "Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay,” are quite vivid and picturesque, creating beautiful imagery. The poem is a clear signal to the griever that rather than remaining saddened for the rest of the life, the griever should move on with the time.
Longfellow’s religious tone in “The Cross of Snow” is a glorification of his beloved’s saint-like image projection whom he would like to live with the feelings of separation and grief for all times, not changing with the passing time. The religious imagery is created by using such words as “halo,” (4) “soul more white,” (5) “martyrdom,” (6) and “benedight” (8) to convey how pure and blessed was his beloved, like an angel. The use of the metaphor, ‘the cross of snow’ well conveys the speaker’s wish.
Both Rossetti and Longfellow, thus, treat feelings of sorrow and sadness from separation differently in their sonnets. Rossetti’s speaker is ready to be forgotten, while Longfellow’s speaker wishes to wear sadness like the cross of snow.