SONG BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

Begin by describing the content or "story" of the poem. Tell what the poem is about. Next describe the tone the speaker takes towards the material noting any figurative language in the poem. After this identify the metrical features of the poem leading to an identification of the form, if possible. Finally, evaluate the poem. Is this a successful poem? Why or why not?

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.

I shall not see the shadows,

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.