Rhetorical devices in "Song" by Christina Rossetti Essay

"Song" by Christina Rossetti
In the poem, "Song" by Christina Rossetti, the poet describes how she wants her lover to react after her death. Rossetti uses rhetorical devices such as imagery and symbolism to convey her point of how her lover should not wallow in sorrow after her death but remember her and continue on with life. In lines three and four, the speaker states "plant thou no roses" and "nor shady cypress tree." In doing so, she creates the images that she does not want her lover to mourn over her death but wants him to continue on living not worried whether or not she will be envious of his life without her. The cypress tree is a signal of sorrow because of its saggy like leaves and she wishes her lover not to mourn her death for too long. Rossetti wants her lover to not remain stagnant because she is gone but to flourish and be happy despite her death.
The poet also reinforces the idea she will be happier in the place she goes than she was living on earth. Rossetti states in lines nine through twelve that she will "not see the shadows", not hear the nightingale sing "as if in pain", and "not feel the rain." By describing these things, Rossetti wants to illustrate that after her death she will be in a happier place no longer feeling any pain once experienced on earth. With the suggestion to all the things on earth that made could have caused her pain, it is presumed Rossetti does not feel as if life on earth was a time period of rejoice for her but more so a time of weariness and sorrow. With her detailing of the things on earth that she would no longer experience, it is thought that Rossetti would much rather be where she is now than on earth living and breathing. So, with that being said, she is going through a sense of relief that she is no longer living unhappily with herself on earth but happy she will be relieved to from the unpleasant troubles on Earth.
In this poem, Rossetti wants to highlight the idea of her being remembered. Although, she does not want her lover to dwell on the fact she is no longer living, she also does not want him to forget her existence. She wants her to remember her for her former natural being on earth rather than what she could be after her death. Rossetti's main focus with the status of her former lover is to make sure that he makes a happy life for himself not forgetting to live and not to manifest himself on the fact that she is no longer by his side. She wants to remember their love, but to soon find a new love after she is gone because he has to move on some point in his life so he will not become stagnant and constantly not linger over there past relations.