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Inevitability Of Death

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The concept of death fascinates many poets. It is something that is inevitable, and everyone forms their own view of it. Personifying death itself is common in art and writing, such as the famous Grim Reaper.The personification of death is often shown as wicked; a representation of the fear of death that so many people possess. ‘The Reaper and the Flowers’ by Henry W. Longfellow and ‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death’ by Emily Dickinson both explore the inevitability of death, as well as personify death as a benevolent figure rather than evil. The theme of ‘The Reaper and the Flowers’ is that death is tragic yet inevitable. In the poem, the Reaper, who is the personification of death, is not portrayed as malevolent. Instead, he is shown …show more content…

Death is personified as the Reaper, an angel who reaps souls and brings them to the light of the afterlife. The flowers in the poem are a metaphor for lives, and in particular the lives of children. Flowers may have been chosen to represent children as they are both associated with purity and goodness. In each stanza, the second and fourth line rhymes with each other. The tone of the poem is equal parts sad and hopeful. Despite the tragedy and inevitability of death in the poem, the Reaper is represented as a benevolent figure, and it is stated that the mother and the child will reunite with each other “in the fields of light …show more content…

Once again, Death is personified as a wise and kind figure who transports the deceased to eternity. Emily Dickinson also chose to capitalize certain words that she wanted to show as important. This was effective as it made the reader pay more attention to the words rather than skimming through it. Similar to the first poem, metaphors are used. The carriage that the speaker and Death ride together in is a metaphor for the final passage to death. The sunset in the poem is used to symbolize the ending of a lifetime. And the house that the speaker mentions is a metaphor for the final resting place. The usage of a house for this metaphor proves that the poem is not trying to portray death as frightening, as instead of choosing a coffin or a gravestone, she chose a symbol of familiarity and

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Millay does this by describing death as dark, cold, and hard, while emphasizing the greatness of the person who died. Even from the very start of the poem, from line one, the reader is able to see the author's usage. The first line says, “shutting away of loving hearts into the hard ground,” by placing the words “loving hearts'' in the middle of harsher words like shutting away and hard ground, the author not only highlights her dislike for death but also gives the reason why (Millay 1). This element is used again in lines five and six. In line five the author says, “lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you,” this is the author romanticizing the one who died, and is then followed up by, “be one with the dull, the indiscrimminate dust,” (Millay 5-6).

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1302 Words | 6 Pages

This poem is about a mother holding her dying son in her weak arms before she buries him, it paints a picture of an un-natural death that gives you a new image of life. The poem describes how the mother is trying to cope the pain she is in and the circumstances and surroundings make the poem even more depressing, she is faking a smile ‘ghost smile’ to overcome her sadness to the loss of her baby. It seems that she’s recently been in a natural disaster or a war and sought shelter in a refugee camp with her dying son, the poem is written in free verse, there is no rhyme scheme and the length of the stanzas are inconsistent. There is a religious reference included in the first line that symbolises Mary and Jesus, sibilance is also used throughout the poem. I think that the reason the last word is ‘grave’ because that is surely the end which ends the poem with horrible closure, however, the flowers give a somewhat positive image.

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