Echo - When Memory Becomes Pain
Imagine trying to reach someone who's no longer there - that's the heartbreaking reality in "Echo." The poem's very structure mirrors its title, with repetitions that fade like actual echoes and enjambment that shows how time inevitably moves forward.
The speaker desperately calls "come to me" throughout, but unlike the authority you'd expect from a command, it sounds utterly desperate. She dreams of him with "soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright as sunlight on a stream" - alive and healthy, the complete opposite of his current state.
The phrase "Oh dream how sweet, too sweet, too bitter sweet" captures the cruel paradox perfectly. The oxymoron "bitter sweet" shows how good memories can actually cause pain because you know they're just dreams.
Reality hits hard in the final stanza with "Yet" - she's forced to acknowledge "how long ago" their time together was. The "slow door" symbolises the barrier between their worlds, both obstacle and potential entry point.
Key Point: Unlike "Remember," this poem shows how clinging to memory can become destructive rather than comforting.