Remember

Poet: Christina Rossetti

Source: "Goblin Market and Other Poems"

Year Published: 1862

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Remember

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 plann'd:

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 I once had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

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This poem is about a woman who is dying and is requesting her lover to remember her. In the first five lines, you would notice the coming separation of the couple. The persona here requests that she be remembered when time comes that she no longer exists here on earth. When she can longer be held.

In the following lines, the persona further stresses that their time together is really getting shorter. Then there comes the tension.

There are lines where you would notice that the persona realizes that the lover will somehow forget her. And if that happens she is also certain that the lover will be sad. So at the end, she tells the lover that its better for him to smile and forget her than remember her and be sad.

This poem not only tackles parting but it also reflects the poet's way of handling her own dilemmas in life. We see here how her Christian devotion affects her decisions. Truly, this poem deserves all the fame it has till now.

The Lady or The Tiger?

Type: Prose

Genre: Fiction

Author: Frank Stockton

Year Published: 1882

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Summary

In a faraway land, there was a semi-barbaric king who has unusual means of administering justice to offenders in his kingdom. You will choose from two doors and whatever decision you'll make will surely change your life. One day, he found out that his daughter, the princess, is in love with a commoner. Because of this, he had the lover arrested and thrown into prison. He set up a date for the trial in the arena. Before the trial, the lover consulted the princess on which door to choose. The princess knows which door contains the tiger and which door contains the lady that will be married to the lover. The question is, which door did the princess chose for the lover?

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I'm sure many have read the story already but still it is amusing to go back and read it again from time to time. It makes you think and analyze what door will the lover choose. What kind of ending will happen.

I'd like to think that this story is the mother of the stories with choose-your-own-ending out there. This kind of stories gives the readers an opportunity to let their imagination soar and transport them to different time and place.

So, if you're the princess, which door will you give the lover?

To read the story, download here.

You Tell Me

Poet: Marra PL. Lanot
Source: "One Hundred Love Poems"
Year Created: 1984
Year Published: 2004
Publisher: The University of the Philippines Press

You Tell Me


You tell me if you had a wife
You wouldn't mind her falling
In love with another, especially
If you left her crying in the night.

You ask me if I want you
To think of no one but me
For you say you'd gladly spend
Your life unraveling a mystery;
Thinking of me, you say,
Is like deciphering a distant star.

And you wouldn't mind
Being used in a poem,
For art you can't refuse.
To err is human
But "human" is no excuse.
To love is natural, the heart
Has its reason, but
The heart is unreasonable
And I am left confused.

So I'd rather cry over him
Than be happy with you;
I'd rather end up
Dreaming and remain a star
You'll always seek and remember
Than sink down and regret
You're like other men
Who make their women cry.


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Here's a poem of a woman talking to her suitor. As you can see in the first stanza, the suitor tells the persona that it is fine for a wife to fall in love with another man if the husband doesn't make the wife happy anymore. From here, we start to have a glimpse of the character of the suitor.

In the second stanza, the suitor continues to court the persona, offering her more flattery. He compares her to a star, something far and always remains a mystery.

The third stanza tells us of how the woman feels about the man. Certain sayings like "To err is human" and "The heart has its reason" has been used too.

On the last stanza, the woman finally makes a choice. She tells the man that she'd rather cry over someone she loved and lost than spend time with this man who has a sweet tongue. After all, she realized that she might even regret if she would give him a chance because he might be just like other men.

Truly, this poem is a nice composition suitable for ladies who want to get rid of annoying suitors. Perhaps, it's the same reason why Lanot wrote this poem.