Comparitive Analysis
Mervens Victor
Mr. Pyne
English IV Honors
11/16/14
Comparative Analysis
Perception of death and remembrance in Christina Rossetti’s “Remember” with Henry Longfellow’s “the Cross of Snow” have different yet similar deductions. On one side there is Rossetti’s iron clad belief that to forget a dead man offers blessing to an individual. With the other there lies Longfellow’s assertion that remembering a passed loved one provides the soul comfort. Which concept takes the cake? Neither, for both Rossetti and Longfellow have provided just reasoning that death and remembrance can be explored in a somber tone or uplifting mood to enhance one’s quality of life.
The method that Longfellow and Rossetti use to describe their views on death are revealed in how they empower their text. Longfellow uses more imagery and visual messages to provide, in essence, an emotion or representation to the reader. He uses statements such as “Looks at me from the wall…casts a halo of pale light” and “There is a mountain…Displays a cross of snow upon its side” to create scenery and environment within his world. These describe the connection to the departed with the world of the living which allows the reader to imagine the setting that Longfellow creates. Rossetti decides to use statements such as “You tell me of our future…you understand” to position a point of view upon the reader. She has essentially placed the reader into this position where death has occurred to someone important, and presents a case of whether holding onto the memories is correct or not. Though the two have presented different scenarios, their message stays the same with how they organize the sonnets. They want to engage the reader into the world where death does not constrain the mind but provides it a decision on how it wants to progress into the future.
Problems between death and remembrance are an essential part of both poems. Rossetti introduces the connection to the two as something cruel; useless to the growth of
Mr. Pyne
English IV Honors
11/16/14
Comparative Analysis
Perception of death and remembrance in Christina Rossetti’s “Remember” with Henry Longfellow’s “the Cross of Snow” have different yet similar deductions. On one side there is Rossetti’s iron clad belief that to forget a dead man offers blessing to an individual. With the other there lies Longfellow’s assertion that remembering a passed loved one provides the soul comfort. Which concept takes the cake? Neither, for both Rossetti and Longfellow have provided just reasoning that death and remembrance can be explored in a somber tone or uplifting mood to enhance one’s quality of life.
The method that Longfellow and Rossetti use to describe their views on death are revealed in how they empower their text. Longfellow uses more imagery and visual messages to provide, in essence, an emotion or representation to the reader. He uses statements such as “Looks at me from the wall…casts a halo of pale light” and “There is a mountain…Displays a cross of snow upon its side” to create scenery and environment within his world. These describe the connection to the departed with the world of the living which allows the reader to imagine the setting that Longfellow creates. Rossetti decides to use statements such as “You tell me of our future…you understand” to position a point of view upon the reader. She has essentially placed the reader into this position where death has occurred to someone important, and presents a case of whether holding onto the memories is correct or not. Though the two have presented different scenarios, their message stays the same with how they organize the sonnets. They want to engage the reader into the world where death does not constrain the mind but provides it a decision on how it wants to progress into the future.
Problems between death and remembrance are an essential part of both poems. Rossetti introduces the connection to the two as something cruel; useless to the growth of