In “Yes, of course it hurts,” Swedish poet Karin Boye uses the bursting of a bud at the end of winter to symbolize death. She refers to the broken bud falling as it being forced to embrace the unknown, and says that the time before the bud breaks is terrifying and painful. However, the fall is exhilarating and fearless (Boye 120). In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar,” he envisions death as a person crossing the bar into the ocean. The poem expresses some apprehension for the inevitable crossing, but it is hopeful about the possibility of meeting “my Pilot,” or God (Tennyson 193). Although both Boye and Tennyson are hopeful about the deaths faced in their poems, Tennyson’s hope seems to come from the possibility of heaven, while Boye’s hope stems more from relief and trust in the universe. The visions of death imagined by Karin Boye’s “Yes, of course it hurts” and Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” are similar in their mutual hope for relief after death but different because of their differing views on religion.
“Crossing the Bar” and “Yes, of course it hurts” both describe death in an eventually hopeful manner. In Boye’s first two stanzas, she describes the fear and uncertainty the bud feels before breaking, but by the third stanza
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the act is in motion, and the bud is happier for it. She says it “rest[s] in that trust that creates the world” (Boye 120). Similarly, Tennyson’s first three stanzas express a feeling of apprehension and the hope for an easy passing. However, unlike Boye, he seems to view crossing the bar, or death, as an inevitability that he should not worry so much about. In the last stanza, Tennyson expresses a sentiment of trust similar to Boye’s, but his is addressed to “my Pilot” instead of the universe (Tennyson 193). The differences that are present in the two poems are clearly explicable when the lives of the poets are considered. Boye was a lesbian, and had, as a teenager, experienced a crisis of faith which led her to secularism. She wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, Crisis, about the experience. Tennyson also had a complex relationship with religion, due to his typical Victorian commitment to science. However, at least at this point, Tennyson seems have hope for Heaven after his death. These two different perspectives on religion cause them to view death differently. While Tennyson is able to view the afterlife with promise, Boye only seems to value it as a relief from the fear that occurs before death. The visions of death imagined by Karin Boye’s “Yes, of course it hurts” and Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” are similar in their mutual hope for relief after death but different because of their differing views on religion.
Both Boye and Tennyson describe an initial dread at the prospect of death and then an eventual acceptance through their respective metaphors of a bud bursting and crossing the bar. They differ, however, in their conceptions of the afterlife. Boye claims to trust in the universe while Tennyson seems to believe he has a chance of entering Heaven. These views- and the less fatalistic character of Tennyson’s poem- are probably due to Boye’s firm secularism and Tennyson’s tentative
Christianity.
Chuck Palahniuk once said, “The first step to eternal life, is you have to die.” In William Cullen Bryant’s poem “Thanatopsis”, he does not mention eternal life or anything religious, but speaks about death. He tells his readers that death is a natural thing and they should not worry about it. William Cullen Bryant, in his poem “Thanatopsis”, portrays a comforting view of death. Throughout the poem, Bryant encourages his readers by explaining that in death they are not alone, that death, like life, is a natural process, and that they will be among some of the finest people who walked the earth.
...ttachment or emotion. Again, Heaney repeats the use of a discourse marker, to highlight how vividly he remembers the terrible time “Next morning, I went up into the room”. In contrast to the rest of the poem, Heaney finally writes more personally, beginning with the personal pronoun “I”. He describes his memory with an atmosphere that is soft and peaceful “Snowdrops and Candles soothed the bedside” as opposed to the harsh and angry adjectives previously used such as “stanched” and “crying”. With this, Heaney is becoming more and more intimate with his time alone with his brother’s body, and can finally get peace of mind about the death, but still finding the inevitable sadness one feels with the loss of a loved one “A four foot box, a foot for every year”, indirectly telling the reader how young his brother was, and describing that how unfortunate the death was.
“Fiddlers’ Green,” a poem with somewhat murky and esoteric origins, is a perfect example of one such piece. The very concept of Fiddlers’ Green has been passed down in stories, sea shanties, poems, and other literary mediums, though one of the most popular interpretations of the fable was penned by one Colonel Stodter of the United States Army in 1923. It describes an afterlife spent with fellow cavalrymen in an army canteen where they may drink freely together. Not only does this piece talk about death and the afterlife in a positive light, referring to “...a shady meadow, green,” (Crosby 10) and “...a good old-time canteen” (Crosby 10), but the poem actually ends with encouragement to die on the battlefield. The final lines of the poem read read, “And put your pistol to your head / And go to fiddlers’ green.
Time is endlessly flowing by and its unwanted yet pending arrival of death is noted in the two poems “When I Have Fears,” by John Keats and “Mezzo Cammin,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Keats speaks with no energy; only an elegiac tone of euphoric sounds wondering if his life ends early with his never attained fame. He mentions never finding a “fair creature” (9) of his own, only experiencing unrequited love and feeling a deep loss of youth’s passion. Though melancholy, “Mezzo Cammin,” takes a more conversational tone as Longfellow faces what is commonly known as a midlife crisis. The two poems progressions contrast as Keats blames his sorrow for his lack of expression while Longfellow looks at life’s failures as passions never pursued. In spite of this contrast, both finish with similar references to death. The comparable rhyme and rhythm of both poems shows how both men safely followed a practiced path, never straying for any spontaneous chances. The ending tones evoking death ultimately reveal their indications towards it quickly advancing before accomplish...
In the first instance, death is portrayed as a “bear” (2) that reaches out seasonally. This is then followed by a man whom “ comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse / / to buy me…” This ever-changing persona that encapsulates death brings forth a curiosity about death and its presence in the living world. In the second stanza, “measles-pox” (6) is an illness used to portray death’s existence in a distinctive embodiment. This uncertainty creates the illusion of warmth and welcomenesss and is further demonstrated through the reproduction of death as an eminent figure. Further inspection allows the reader to understand death as a swift encounter. The quick imagery brought forth by words such as “snaps” and “shut” provoke a sense of startle in which the audience may dispel any idea of expectedness in death’s coming. This essential idea of apparent arrival transitions to a slower, foreseeable fate where one can imagine the enduring pain experienced “an iceberg between shoulder blades” (line 8). This shift characterizes the constant adaptation in appearance that death acquires. Moreover, the idea of warmth radiating from death’s presence reemerges with the introduction to a “cottage of darkness” (line 10), which to some may bring about a feeling of pleasantry and comfort. It is important to note that line 10 was the sole occurrence of a rhetorical question that the speaker
..., the content and form has self-deconstructed, resulting in a meaningless reduction/manifestation of repetition. The primary focus of the poem on the death and memory of a man has been sacrificed, leaving only the skeletal membrane of any sort of focus in the poem. The “Dirge” which initially was meant to reflect on the life of the individual has been completely abstracted. The “Dirge” the reader is left with at the end of the poem is one meant for anyone and no one. Just as the internal contradictions in Kenneth Fearing’s poem have eliminated the substantial significance of each isolated concern, the reader is left without not only a resolution, but any particular tangible meaning at all. The form and content of this poem have quite effectively established a powerful modernist statement, ironically contingent on the absence and not the presence of meaning in life.
In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.
First of all, the speaker starts her poem personifying death as a kind gentleman who comes to pick her up for her death journey. It is obvious if the reader looks at “He kindly stopped for me” (2). T...
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
Predominantly the poem offers a sense of comfort and wisdom, against the fear and pain associated with death. Bryant shows readers not to agonize over dying, in fact, he writes, "When thoughts of the last bitter hour come like a blight over thy spirit, and sad images of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, and breathless darkness, and the narrow house, make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart -- go forth under the open sky, and list to Nature 's teachings." With this it eludes each person face their own death, without fright, to feel isolated and alone in death but to find peace in knowing that every person before had died and all those after will join in death (Krupat and Levine
William Penn, an English philosopher and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, once said that, “For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.” He is saying that death is not the end of our lives, but just another stage. In the poem “Holy Sonnet 10” by John Donne, the poet talks to death itself and gives his opinion on his view of death and others’ views: it is something that cannot control anything, can be replaced by other things, and is not the end of a person’s life. Through the use of his figurative language, Petrachan form, and tone and language, Mr. Donne expresses the message that death is not to be feared because one lives in heaven. John uses many examples of figurative language in his sonnet.
The speaker started the poem by desiring the privilege of death through the use of similes, metaphors, and several other forms of language. As the events progress, the speaker gradually changes their mind because of the many complications that death evokes. The speaker is discontent because of human nature; the searching for something better, although there is none. The use of language throughout this poem emphasized these emotions, and allowed the reader the opportunity to understand what the speaker felt.
Many people find it hard to imagine their death as there are so many questions to be answered-how will it happen, when, where and what comes next. The fact that our last days on Earth is unknown makes the topic of death a popular one for most poets who looks to seek out their own emotions. By them doing that it helps the reader make sense of their own emotions as well. In the two poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, the poets are both capturing their emotion about death and the way that they accepted it. In Dickenson’s poem her feelings towards death are more passionate whereas in Dylan’s poem the feelings
With the use of metaphors, imagery, and symbolization both authors show the power that death has over one’s body. Through personification both authors show how death can be thought of as a leader—either a gentle leader or strong, mighty leader—grabbing you out of your busy life and leading you to eternity. Dickinson painted the picture of death through the setting suns gazing grains, and the children playing in the yard, reminiscing on her beautiful life that was filled with happiness and joy. Whereas Donne showed how he conquered death and how death was a slave to chance rather than a powerful being. Both poems showed their ride to eternity and their perspectives on Death himself.
In poetry, death is referred as the end of literature and it is associated with feeling of sorrows. However Emily Dickinson demonstrates that death is not the end of literature or feeling of sadness but death is a new element of inspiration in poetry and is the beginning of a new chapter in our life. In the poem ‘’Because I Could Not Stop for Death’, she discusses the encounter of a women with death, who passed away centuries ago. Dickenson uses metaphors and similes to show that the process of dying can be an enjoyable moment by appreciating the good moments in life, and by respecting death rather than fearing it. Also Dickinson portrays death in a humorous way as she compares it to man seducing her to go to her death as well, to childhood games that show the innocence of this encounter (Bloom). The poem is a reflection of how unpredictable death can be. Death is a scary process in life that should not be feared because it should be celebrate as new start.