Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep Analysis

The poem “Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep,” by Mary Elizabeth Frye, uses literary techniques to connect to the reader; it is an elegy because it is inspired by someone’s death and structured so that it moves toward a resolution, an acceptance of that death.
“Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep” fulfils the qualification to be an elegy by being written in response to the grief of a young girl whose mother has died (the inspiration), and by ending with a sense of acceptance and peace. The mother of a young girl dies in Germany during the Holocaust, so her daughter is unable to return to the grave and grieve for her. The poem speaks from the perspective of the dead mother, and it communicates what the girl should do to arrive at acceptance of

the situation. Frye wants the girl to look for signs of the mother’s spirit in the natural world instead of in physical form. Furthermore, the poem’s structure helps to convey ease and acceptance to those who read by ending with a resolution through which the reader realizes that every person is a part of nature, not a separate individual. The piece leads to, “Do not stand at my grave and cry: / I am not there; I did not die” (Frye 11-12). The beginning of the poem emphasizes that the mother is still present around her daughter. However, by the end, the reader starts to understand that she is not to be found physically in the grave, but has been transformed into a part of nature. In general, elegies focus on dealing with the anguish that comes after death than other types of poems. “Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep” is an elegy because of its theme dealing with the grief of death using poetry rather than prose.
Frye uses the literary techniques: point of view and imagery to personally connect to the reader. The poem is told in the first person. The character who has died tells the daughter what she, the mother, has become. This makes the poem intensely personal. The reader feels a direct connection to the dead mother when reading the lines , “I am not there; I do not sleep. / I am a thousand winds that blow” (Frye 2-3). The dead mother asks the reader not to think of her body as an attachment to the world. Rather, one should look around for her essence in nature. Frye also uses a second poetic device: Imagery. The author uses different figures such as, “diamond glints on snow...ripened grain...gentle autumn rain” (Frye 4-6) to paint the picture of nature in the reader’s mind. The image “diamond glints on snow” (Frye 4) causes the reader to think of sparkling elegance. The image “ripened grain” (Frye 5) leads one think of an ideal time, and the image “autumn rain” (Frye 6) evokes ideas of freshness and tranquility. These portraits of beauty better connect the reader to the narrator. Frye uses these techniques to move the reader to believe the poem’s goal that the impact of the dead person is present around us and continues to influence and support those who she has left in this world
This poems helps the bereaved daughter to accept death more easily, and to look for her mother in her daily life, and in the air she breaths. When someone dies, it is not necessary that he or she visit the dead’s grave to mourn. Rather, it is better to look for his spirit all around in the beauty of nature.