Up-hill and Looking Back and Afterwards Essay -- Christina Rossetti Th

Up-hill and Looking Back and AfterwardsThe poems I am going to analyse and compare are Remember, Up-hilland Looking Back by Christina Rossetti and Afterwards by ThomasHardy. These poems reflect on the theme of loss and how it affects thepoets when they reflect on it. The poems also show the poetspreoccupation of finale. In these poems, the poets approach the themeof death using various disparate techniques and linguistic devices.Christina Rossetti is a passionate and powerful poet the majority ofher poetry has contained the themes of either love or death, and inmany cases both. charge in the poems which she wrote for children, thesethemes are prominent. Hardy too was very close to nature. In his poemthere are vivid descriptions of objects and the element of nature isalmost everlastingly present.The titles of these poems every give a hint about what the poem isabout. Remember tells us that the poet wants to be remembered forsomething. Often one is remembered after her death becau se the pain ofloss keeps saving back her memories. In the poem Rossetti does askher lover to remember her and demands that he should Only rememberme. Up-hill tells us that that the poet is probably going on a travel. This journey is the journey of life, which Rossetti isinquiring about in her poem. Looking back shows us that the poet isreflecting on something. Again, one al itinerarys looks back on life whenhe is near his death to see what he has done and evaluate his life.Afterwards is also a title which could refer to the theme of death.Hardy wants to know what will happen afterwards when he is dead. Hewants to be remembered non for his fame but for his closeness tonature and for the person ... ...ill on the other hand showshow heaven will be - a place of comfort after a journey which takethe whole long day. Looking Back is meant to convey that death is atime of evaluation of ones life. One should look back along lifestrodden way and meditate on the mistakes and hardships of li fe. InAfterwards Hardy says that death is a time of evaluation from othersand that you should be remembered for what you are and not because youare famous or gull achieved something. He also hopes that he will beremembered for his familiarity with nature and how he could dolittle for it even though he tried.I feel that all the poems effectively convey the theme of loss. Allpoems have a different approach but the basic idea is clear death isinevitable. However, the poets have different views on death and itseffect on them and those close to them.