Remember

Christina Rossetti wrote her now famous "Remember" when she was just a teenager. This work is a remarkable accomplishment for a poet of that age in any era. In summary, Rossetti requests that the addressee of the poem remember her after she has died. But what gives the poem a twist is the concluding thought that it would be better for her loved one to forget her and be happy than to remember her if it makes that person sad. I am willing to guess that all of us wish that our loved ones not be sad after we are gone. I set this poem with gentle melodies, while keeping a sense of hopefulness with an uplifting cascading piano accompaniment. This piece is not meant to be sad. My hope is that it provides joy in remembering those we have lost. 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 plannd: 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 once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.