Akanksha Choudhury's podcast: Recent Episodes
Akanksha Choudhury
If you forget me by Pablo Neruda,
Voice by me
The poem starts with very simple messages and sets a tone this way. «If You Forget Me» begins, «I want you to know one thing». The heading and the beginning of the poem make that special tone that is essential for reaching the main purpose. Indeed, there is a story about love, but not a simple one. Love that is not unconditional. Love that the author is ready to give only in exchange. It’s interesting that the clarity of messages in this poem is easily perceived by a reader. There is no multiplicity of characters or a complex plot in it. All the six stanzas are one short message – message of a passionate love.
In Jane Austen’s final, posthumously published novel, Persuasion, the heroine Anne Elliot was convinced (or some would say, persuaded) by her godmother, Lady Russell, to call off her teenage engagement to the impecunious Frederick Wentworth. Fast-forward almost a decade later, and the two reconnect via the typical Austen scaffolding of events, and it’s revealed that they’ve never truly forgotten each other.
After overhearing a conversation in which Anne argues that men move on more swiftly from their past loves, Wentworth counters her claim with one of the most highly regarded love notes in all of literature:
Voice cover by : Akanksha Choudhury
Words: Jane Austen