Remembering and forgetting are two completely opposite things. Although in this piece of poetry by Christina Rossetti, she is able to compose them together, making a very powerful piece. She communicates the subject and theme through describing death in a different way than we normally do.
The poem starts out by using plants to describe the unawareness of death: “Unmindful of the roses, unmindful of the thorn”. The thorn is the bad part of the rose, causing pain. However, the author says that we are not only unaware of the thorn, but also the rose, representing pain and beauty. Furthermore, the author uses gathering corn as a metaphor for killing people. The “reaper” is the one who is doing this killing.
This idea can also be connected to war. Soldiers in war go out to kill people. Survivors who come back know exactly what happened. They saw death right in front of them. Survivors are the ones that remember, but most people uninvolved are unaware of what really happens. Everybody has forgotten about the dead people from war and only the survivor remembers all of the dead men in the sea-side grave. This point further explains the title of this poem to the subject.
Christina Rossetti has effectively communicated the subject, being death. She has also communicated the theme: the unawareness of death. We have connected these ideas through the metaphors of the rose and corn, to see the concept of war and how it affects people, especially the survivors.
By: The Britalit Group
Works Cited
Rossetti, Christina. “One Sea-Side Grave.” PoemHunter.com, 1 Apr. 2010, www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-sea-side-grave/.