The Emotional Vividness of Poems

Poems can carry out multiple, complex, and simple messages. No matter how big or small they can broadcast a beautiful story to an audience that can stay with them forever. Two poems that have accomplished this with multiple people are “Sonnet 18- Shall I Compare thee to A Summer’s Day?” by William Shakespeare and “Remember by Christina Rossetti” both goon and demonstrate somewhat different messages across their text but also have similar ideas in the subjects they speak about. Both poems go into the ideas of death and how we can be remembered once we are gone. Though “Sonnet 18”  and “Remember” are characteristic of two very different styles of poetry, they share the same kind of emotional vividness.

William Shakespeare wrote “Sonnet 18” in 1609 when times were dramatically different from how they are now. A person could consider the word love to have a different meaning than it does today. During this time men would faint over women they crushed on by just being in the same room as them. Panicking by just being in the same vicinity as the person you admire shows how deep love was back then. This parallels directly with “Sonnet 18” with Shakespeare comparing a loved one to a summer day. Though not in the way you think because here we have Shakespeare talking about the flaws of Summer, for example, “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,” (line 5) which demonstrates how his lover would be better than a summer’s day. Another quote to support this would be “And oft’ is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines,” (line 7) which means how even though it’s beautiful it will eventually wither away. This connects to the most important part of this poem is the end where Shakespeare talks about his lover and how they will live on. Shakespeare goes on to state that “ But thy eternal Summer shall not fade…So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” which means that as long as people live and can read Shakespeare’s work their memory will live on. Even after death, years later in modern times, this lover has not been forgotten because of Shakespeare’s work and the goals he accomplished. All of this shows the poem’s emotional vividness and can later be compared to the poem “Remember’ made by Christina Rossetti. 

“Remember” was written in 1849 by Christina Rossetti; she was a writer of romantic, devotional, and children’s poems. One of her most famous poems was “Remember” and for a good reason, this work tackles a situation of a person who is dealing with the loss of their significant lover. The narrator of this poem is the loved one who passed away and they go on to talk about the different ways they can be remembered. Including “When you can no longer hold me by the hand,…Remember me when no more day by day” (line 5) which means when I am not with you every day remember that and me/ when you can no longer feel my precise thinking of me. They go on to talk about this throughout most of the poem which makes the reader think about the afterlife and what happens if we are not remembered.  At the end of the poem, the narrator switches tones with their significant other speaking “And afterward remember, do not grieve:  For if the darkness and corruption leave” meaning that it’s not good to grieve and not move on from death. Another quote is “Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.” which is by far the most important quote in the poem demonstrating that you should forget me and be happy/move on from me, then to remember me and be sad/grieve over me. Which all comes full circle and displays a positive and good message to the reader about moving on from loss. This message shows great emotional vividness that impacts the reader by showing them how to deal with certain emotions. 

Both poems cover different subjects that for the most part are greatly comparable, but both poems’ ends come closer than we realize. Sonnet 18 closes its work talking about how their lover will always be remembered through the work that was put in the text. The poem “Remember” also comes into contact with the idea of remembrance and how it can affect the significant other themselves. These messages both relate to each other and show significance because they both show how love and death are made from the same cloth. These works show that death can be sad, and horrible and even people can wither away. In Both stories, death follows love and love follows death, with both poems having two different groups of people, situations, and even times. This is also significant because these works teach us a lesson about moving on from loss and remembering someone for their actions/ impact they had on us as human beings. The overall message can get across to the audience and show how they have the same emotional vividness. 

Finally, it may be concluded that both of these poems shared many differences but also have huge similarities that bring out their true messages and tones. With “Sonnet 18” having a love followed by a death text and “Remember” having a death followed by a love text we can see how both can be related and also show the importance of remembering the people in our lives and how we can preserve/be happy with their memory.

Revision- William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” and Christina Rossetti’s “Remember” differ in style and subject matter, but both express important ideas about love, death, and memory. Shakespeare’s “Sonnet No. 18” emphasizes the immortality of loved ones through the enduring power of words, demonstrating that love is superior to the fleeting beauty of a summer’s day. Similarly, the song “Remember” deals with the concept of memory. The narrator encourages loved ones to find joy in forgetting and forgetting their pain. Both poems emphasize the interrelationship of love and death, showing how memory can keep the dead alive in the minds of those who remember them. These literary masterpieces offer insightful guidance on enduring loss and appreciating the impact others have had on our lives. Overall, audiences are touched by the emotional depth and timeless themes of these poems, leaving a lasting impression that underscores their enduring relevance and importance.

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