Howard Stanley Nemerov's The Phoenix

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Symbolism in Howard Stanley Nemerov's “The Phoenix” In “The Phoenix”, Nemerov symbolically presents the subject of death and rebirth; through the eternal existence of a mythical bird. The phoenix is believed to originate from Egyptian mythology. Depicted to be a “sacred purple bird” that departs in flames only to rise repeatedly from the ashes, and is the only one of its kind. Nemerov depicts this creature as if in representation of God himself, because of the bird’s self-sufficiency. Howard Nemerov’s “the Phoenix” appears in his second collection of poetry, Guide to the Ruins. In his collection Guide to the Ruins, he focuses on the subject of death and rebirth. Nemerov uses a sense of ironic finality within this poem; to where it was