Shakuntala and Thomas Hood’s Poem, “I Remember, I Remember”: The Universality of Human Sentiments

Thomas Hood (1798 – 1845) has written a poem entitled “I Remember, I Remember” in which he lists some of the things he remembers.  In one stanza, (he says) he remembers:

“The lilacs where the robin built,

And where my brother set

The laburnum on his birthday, --

The tree is living yet!”

One cannot escape noticing the poignancy of the poet’s sadness because we know that his brother is no longer alive but the tree is.  He misses his brother whenever he remembers, thinks of, the laburnum bush.