Examples Of Nostalgia In Poem At 39 And Remember

Examine how memories cause nostalgia and regret in the poems ‘Piano’, ‘Poem at 39’ and ‘Remember’. Nostalgia is the sentiment of loss, the longing for the past, which later on transfigures into abiding perpetual regret. This concept is explored in the poems ‘Piano’ by D.H. Lawrence, ‘Poem at 39’ by Alice Walker and ‘Remember’ by Christina Georgina Rossetti where the inevitable aspects of nostalgia and regret are prevalent, persistent themes. Nostalgia exists within the delusional system of their idealized memories, although these three poems share a common theme, they are presented in contrast to one another. In ‘Piano’, Lawrence explores nostalgia caused by the romanticized memories of childhood compared with the harsh realities of adult life. Similarly in ‘Poem at 39’, Walker looks at the wistfulness of nostalgia, and the longing for an idealized past, as well as remembrance of loved ones and of unconditional love between parent and child. However in ‘Remember’, Christina Georgina Rossetti probes the perplexity of nostalgia, highlighting the dominant tensions upon which she orders her beloved to remember her after her death even when his memories begin to fade. In “Piano” by D. H. Lawrence, the speaker recalls a childhood memory. Memories facilitate holding on to everything a person loves, without memories of the past we cannot operate in the present. Even a sophisticated man finds himself lost in the

To me, Lawrence dynamically denotes the power of memory as the speaker does not fight the memory but hesitatingly gives into temptation to travel back to the lost childhood he loved. But when the flashback ends, the jolt is traumatic so hence I believe that Lawrence was hinting that we should take advantage of every memory and memories should occasionally be brought out to heal the hurts of the stringent realities from the