An Explication of Sharon Olds’ Poem, Feared Drowned Essay

The poem, “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” written by Margaret Atwood was awfully sad and tragic as it described the death of her son and its lasting effect on her. The speaker begins the poem by describing how her son was brave, adventurous and led with success. However, the mood of the poem quickly changes as the young boy slipped off the bank and into the water. From there, the boy struggles in the water before eventually drowning. As he is pulled out of the water the mother realizes that all the plans that she had for the future are over and that a part of her has died alongside her son. Atwood uses multiple types of figurative language that gives this poem a sense of realism and really shows the reader the devastation and heartache that occurs after the loss of a child.

This marks a new stage in the narrator's emotions, as she is glum upon his exit. It is clearly evident that the speaker is worried about her husband's journey because of line sixteen, which states, "Through the Gorges of Ch'u-t'ang, of rock and whirling water." This line shows that the husband is travelling through dangerous terrain. Throughout the third stanza, the narrator is said to slowly transition into a depression phase, as she dearly misses her husband. In lines twenty-three to twenty-five, the narrator sees butterflies flying "two by two" in the garden, and she feels very depressed upon seeing this because the butterflies are all together with their spouses, while she isn't. In line twenty-six, the speaker uses imagery to describe her emotion. She fears that she might start to look pale because of her

Similarly, the phrase ‘the next moment, you are no longer there’ is perhaps suggesting that he was shocked at seeing her go so suddenly. However, the fact that when she next reappears she is ‘perfectly framed shows us that the joy of seeing her after thinking she has gone for good is a surprise to him. ‘Fragrant survivors of last night’s frost’ shows us that the flowers are strong, which is a suggestion that their love is strong. In the fourth verse the phrase ‘my heart misses a beat at love for you’ shows us that the love was so intense that time seemed to stop too. ‘Knowing a time will come when you are no longer there’ shows us that he is not looking forward to that time and that he knows it is inevitable. ‘Meanwhile let us make sure we clasp each shared moment’ shows us that he wants to make sure they use their time together wisely, and ‘in cupped hands, like water we dare not spill’ shows us they know that their time together is precious.

Death is a topic that unites all of humanity. While it can be uncomfortable to think about, confronting death in unavoidable. “Dying” addresses that discomfort and universal unwillingness to consider the inevitability of death. Pinsky’s use of imagery, symbolism, and tone create a poetic experience that is like death, something every reader can relate to. In “Dying,” Pinsky describes how people are oblivious and almost uncaring when it comes to the thought of death. Pinsky is trying to convince the reader that they shouldn’t ignore the concept of death because life is shorter than it seems.

The distinctive experience of power and survival is shown in Kenneth Slessor’s poem, ‘Beach Burial’ The use of colour imagery and similes of the men’s inscription being ‘as blue as drowned men’s lips’ and “vast number of dead sailors” “the blue lips of the drowned bodies” is disturbing as it vividly paints a picture of their lifelessness in the audiences mind. Colour and death is used in the line “the breath of the wet season has washed their inscriptions”

In the final stanza, he makes the reader sad as he assumes the inevitable will happen and she will die. He expresses this through metaphors such as a “black figure in her white cave”, which is a reference to the bright white hospital rooms and although he is the black figure he thinks she just sees a shadow which could be the grim reaper or even death himself, coming to end her journey. No one wants to deal with the sorrow of losing a loved one for good, as

Once submerged into the swamp, her human body and “pale bones” contradict the obscure, “peerless” and “pathless” environment. The contrast between light and dark imagery such as “pale bones” and “black earth soup” emphasize her sense of loss and displacement within natural world. Through words relating to the human anatomy, she attempts to surface the swamp’s pulling control over her. The initial incompatibility between her and the swamp continue as she fights for “foothold, fingerhold” out of her immediate situation and back to the shore, before she entered. In the midst of wrestling for mental control over her situation, repeating “s” sounds reveal her sinking position and how she succumbs to her environment. Sibilants such as “slick,” “silent,” “sink,” and “slack,” force her into the mud. Once absorbed, he previously “burred” perspective clashes with the soft feeling in the mud. The speaker's description of the swamp when in it, contradicts the earlier assumptions made at a physical distance. The previously “wet, thick” mud is actually “not so wet as much as painted.” Rather than submissive to her environment, she is passive by entirely accepting her surprised reaction. The switch to “I feel” is another pause, as she contemplates her surrounding as she experiences a raw moment rather than standing on the edge of it.

“This experience is much harder, and weirder, to describe than extreme fear or terror, most people know what it is like to be seriously afraid. If they haven’t felt it themselves, they’ve at least seen a movie, or read a book, or talked to a frightened friend – they can at least imagine it. But explaining what I’ve come to call ‘disorganization’ is a different challenge altogether. Consciousness gradually loses its coherence, one’s center gives away. The center cannot hold. The ‘me’ becomes a haze, and the solid center from which one experiences reality breaks up like a bad radio signal. (Saks, p. 13)”

They both approached a tent, which, as they were getting closer, got louder and louder. “it sounded like the sea imprisoned under a canvas” is a simile and is used to show that the tent was extremely loud and resembled the crashing and howling of the ravaging sea. The use of sonic imagery with the tent “roaring to escape” further illustrates that it rumbled with noise. A metaphor is used in line 11 with the “waterfall of crying and stomping” compares the cascade with that of screeching and squalling. The man has still not let go. Despite his efforts, Robert does not manage to free himself from the man’s grasp showing a contrast between previously stated comments depicting the man as

The main aspect of the poem is the obvious tone shift from lighthearted comedy to contemplating sadness, starting slowly between the second and third stanza and slowly building up more and more as the poem continues. This foil accentuates the emotion of the poem, making the ending all the sadder. This sadness becoming evident in the last stanza of the poem, where the couplet pattern breaks in an

A raspy voice stood out from the rest, they sang a melancholy tune, that sounded familiar. “Wade in the water, Wade in the water children. Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water.” A warning, it is not safe anymore, something terrible must be coming. My life as a free man is no longer on my mind, my only focus was surviving whatever is on its way. What could have been flashed before me, I saw myself with a beautiful woman, and an adorable

The sound of the ocean draws Edna to go swimming. As she stands on the beach, “the voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing…inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude” (108). If the sound of the ocean was not sensuous, Edna would not have experienced and awakening. Towards the end of the passage, sound comforts her as she is about to die. “Edna heard her father’s voice and her sister Margaret’s. She heard the barking of a

In the first stanza it is the semantic field of water: ‘waters’ (twice), ‘sea’, ‘drowning’ and ‘being drawn’. As I mentioned earlier, water is often the symbol of life but it also evokes tears, sadness and despair.

These lines use enjambment for the effect of the lines flowing into each other to make it seems like the sea. The first half flows smoothly, as does the second half, except for the final word. The letter "S" is used in both halves to bring them together - to remind the readers of Islands Man closeness to the sea. The letter "H" ("head") is a break from the "S's" and therefore the rhythm is lost. The third line ("to the sound of blue surf") has alliteration of the letter "S". The sound of this letter is very much like that of the waves to remind the reader of the sea. To insure that this comes across to the readers there is emphasis on these letters. There is also an emphasis on the word "head" here to make the readers realize that it is only in Island Man's head, as he also realizes the truth.

In both pieces she wishes to be detached from love and responsibility, yet as the poem progresses, she has a change of heart, almost an epiphany.