When I am dead, my dearest by Christina Rossetti

Full Text

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.

Overview

Rossetti’s speaker refuses elaborate mourning and imagines a quiet afterlife where memory fades gently.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1-8

The speaker requests no rituals and allows the beloved to remember or forget.

Lines 9-16

Death is pictured as a twilight state, where even memory becomes uncertain.

Themes

• Death
• Letting go
• Memory
• Gentle grief

Literary Devices

Refrain

remember... forget — Repetition underscores acceptance and peace.

Imagery

green grass... dewdrops — Softens death with natural calm.

Historical Context

Rossetti often wrote of death with restraint and serenity, shaped by Victorian mourning culture.