A speaker affectionately warns a lover to stop picking at the past. The opening advice sounds paradoxical: don’t try so hard to forget, because struggling to forget can actually bring memories back. The image of blowing on a deceptive ember suggests that poking at something that looks dead may only make it flare again. The poem counsels leaving whatever is stored in the “attic of your mind” alone and not glancing backward, since too much looking back tramples the present. The speaker then turns to the now: he will gather moments as they come, refusing to mourn what slips away. Let some future lover worry about the past, he says, with a shrug. The mood is wry, tender, and light on its feet—playful advice about memory and love, with a quiet urgency underneath to live in the moment.
Sweetling, Try Not to Forget — Summary
Sweetling, try not to forget. Lest in trying, you remember; She who blows too hard may get Flame from the deceptive ember.
Let the attic of your mind Keep whatever stores are in it ; Do not look too much behind, Lest you tread the present minute.
I shall pluck the moments now — Only folly weeps to miss one; Let some later lover's brow Wrinkle at the thought of this one!