"hold me by the hand..."See in text(Text of the Poem)
Rossetti’s poem takes the form of a Petrarchan sonnet. Petrarchan sonnets historically feature a speaker expressing his unrequited love about a love object who does not acknowledge his affection. Contrary to this tradition, this speaker seems to share an intimate relationship with the person to whom she writes. “No more” signals that this couple has been holding hands, an action that suggests they share an intimate bond.
Rossetti uses iambic pentameter and a Petrarchan rhyme scheme to craft this sonnet. Petrarchan sonnets were traditionally used to express unrequited love for a love object. However, the subject matter of this poem is not unrequited love but rather the memory and love that remains when someone’s partner dies. Rossetti’s use of this form could comment on a different kind of unattainable love: this love cannot be returned because the love object is physically unreachable.
