Topic > Facing the End of Life in Poetry

The Dawn of Life and the Sunset of Death Every living thing on this planet is guaranteed two things: life and death. The duration of one depends on their fate, and the date of their conclusion has not been revealed; the gift of one will ultimately continue with the other. While the inevitability of the latter strikes fear in the hearts of many, most people find peace by addressing their focus on life. In the poems “Dawn Revisited” and “When Death Comes,” poets Rita Dove and Mary Oliver explore the hope and possibility of life in the face of every person's inevitable end. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In “Dawn Revisited,” poet Rita Dove parallels the beginning of a new life with the beginning of the day, as the title literally suggests. His primary use of imagery lies in one of the morning's most recognizable identifiers: breakfast: "in the prodigal smell of biscuits - / grilled eggs and sausages" (Dove, 8-9). When a new morning breaks, the possibilities of new choices and life are reborn. Where he instills the idea of ​​life renewal through the image of a new beginning with the "blank page" metaphor and a hopeful perspective with the "sky's the limit" idiom: "The whole sky is yours / to write on, blown open / on a blank page." (Dove, 10-12) At the end of the poem, Dove appeals to both the breakfast metaphor and the carefree ideal: “You'll never know / who's over there, frying those eggs, / if you don't.” Stand up and look." (13-15) Colomba's light narrative tone blends with the theme of hope through descriptive references to light. In Mary Oliver's "When Death Comes," the title strikes the audience with the impression of the imminent arrival of a dark poem, expressing the depressing inevitability of death. The humanistic fear of death is commonly associated with the fear of pain. Oliver appeals to this mortal fear through the image of pain: the pain experienced through a death by disease – “when death comes / like the measles” (Oliver, 5-6) – and the pain experienced through a brutal death. strength - "When Death comes / like an iceberg between the shoulder blades," (Oliver, 7-8) While Death does not literally stab his victims in the back with a sheet of ice, the feeling of cold betrayal by life is expressed through tactile sensations of the weapon's temperature at the point of vulnerability. As a means for humans to alleviate the inevitability of death, Death himself is commonly personified as one's being with the consciousness of taking and bargaining: "when Death comes, take all the shining coins from his purse / to buy me, and snap the bag closed." (Oliver, 3-4) Death as a character creates the feeling of an evil being that stands above everyone in the hierarchy of life. Both “Dawn Revisited” and “When Death Comes” use nature imagery to signify life everywhere, but its use differs in each poem. In “When Death Comes,” Oliver uses “the hungry bear in autumn” (2) to signify the closure of life during the season of autumn, personifying Death as the hungry bear. In “Dawn Revisited,” Dove uses the imagery of the “blue jay / [mowing] its gracious produce / and the oak standing [standing], shedding / its glorious shadow” (2-5) to signify life of nature, and in turning on the speaker, at its peak. The vibrant colors of the blue jay's feathers and oak tree leaves convey the sense of life through the passage as it mimics the spring season. The rich colors of autumn's red leaves and.