This moving sonnet by Christina Rossetti, one of the leading poets of the nineteenth-century Pre-Raphaelite movement, has brought comfort in bereavement to millions of people. With its message of simple remembrance without regrets, and its reassurance that it is better to 'forget and smile' than to 'remember and be sad', it brings help and comfort at a time when feelings of guilt and even bitterness can cloud the thoughts of the person left behind.
The delicate pen and ink drawings by Sam Denley perfectly highlight the reflective nature of this masterpiece of sonnet writing.