Analyzing The Poem 'The Lesson Of The Moth'

In “The Conqueror Worm,” Poe writes a compelling drama mankind’s tragic existence. Through biblical allusions and the metaphor of the worm, there is a prominent theme of death. The reference to a real play is shown as five stanzas in the poem parallel five acts in an average play.

Many people attempt to avoid death, and many times those people are successful; however, more often than not, when people face the predicament of dying, they are not fortunate enough to escape the misfortune. Whether a person surpasses the curse of death at one point in time, eventually they will come to meet death; death is inevitable. Virginia Woolf, author of the essay, “The Death of the Moth,” captures the message death is inevitable. Throughout the essay, Woolf follows the short life of a day moth. In following the moth, Woolf comes to the realization that regardless of what she attempts to do to proliferate the decay of the moth, the moth will still succumb to death. To encapsulate the theme in the essay, Woolf uses numerous

The Poem “Introduction to Poetry” is by Billy Collins, an English poet, and it is about how teachers often force students to over-analyze poetry and to try decipher every possible meaning portrayed throughout the poem rather than allowing the students to form their own interpretation of the poem based on their own experiences.

Both Anne Dillard and Gordon Grice develop a unique perspective on life based on their observations of nature in their essays “Living Like Weasels” and “The Black Widow.” In “Living Like Weasels,” Dillard meditates on the value and necessity of instinct and tenacity in human life. Meanwhile, in “The Black Widow,” Grice offers a philosophical perspective on life, which grows out of his close observation of the black widow spider. Both essays urge readers to reflect on their experiences with nature and learn from what Mother Nature is showing them.

Without remembering, humanity will ultimately destroy the entire planet, the only place we have to live, and the only place that supplies us with life and therefore a future. “The Death of The Moth” holds on to this idea but reinvents the meaning of life and

In Edward Taylor’s poem, “Upon a Spider Catching a Fly”, Taylor demonstrates Puritan values of faith and strength. The poem includes three main characters: a spider, a fly, and a wasp. The spider represents the Devil and is described as a “[venomous] elf” (1) who spins webs to catch flies. When the wasp was caught in the spider’s web, the spider “gently [tapped] his back” (15-16) to tease him, but the spider was afraid that the wasp would “fling/ His sting” (9-10). The wasp’s sting symbolizes the strength of a Puritan who is able to resist allurement. That strength allowed the wasp to “gently fret/ Thy net” (19-20) and escape. Unfortu mk,l.nately, the fly who’s described as “silly” (21) was “Caught by its leg/ Thou by the throat tookst hastily/

After first reading Edna St. Vincent Millay’s lyric poem, “If I Should Learn, in Some Quite Casual Way,” one may be taken aback by just how unconcerned the speaker, possibly Millay herself, seems to be with this scenario. Only after going back through the poem a time or two can one understand what Millay truly means. Figures of speech are methodically placed to give the impression that not much effort went into this mere thought.

Virginia Woolf’s “Death of a Moth” may, at first glance, seem lackluster; however, her creative and impactful message is brilliantly hidden within symbolism that demands an abstract perspective. She uses imagery to describe a moth and personify its actions in order to present it as a symbol for life. Additionally, pathos throughout her work evokes emotions and prompts the analytical thinking needed to understand her underlying meaning. Thus, Woolf’s analysis about life is composed using symbolism, imagery, and pathos that combine to create a contemplative style and motivational purpose.

Ted Kooser, the thirteenth Poet Laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner, is known for his honest and accessible writing. Kooser’s poem “A Spiral Notebook” was published in 2004, in the book Good Poems for Hard Times, depicting a spiral notebook as something that represents more than its appearance. Through the use of imagery, diction, and structure, Ted Kooser reveals the reality of a spiral notebook to be a canvas of possibilities and goes deeper to portray the increasing complexities in life as we age.

     Death is a difficult subject for anyone to speak of, although it is a part of everyday life. In Virginia Woolf’s “The Death of the Moth”, she writes about a moth flying about a windowpane, its world constrained by the boundaries of the wood holding the glass. The moth flew, first from one side, to the other, and then back as the rest of life continued ignorant of its movements. At first indifferent, Woolf was eventually moved to pity the moth. This story shows that life is as strange and familiar as death to us all. I believe this story was well written and will critique the symbolism, characters, and the setting.

A comparison of Sharon Olds’ “Still Life in Landscape” with Linda Pastan’s “I Am Learning to Abandon the World.”

The Caterpillar is a poem which focuses on the previously overlooked actions some of us may partake in, that may not be thought much of, but have short and long lasting effects on a scale we might not be very familiar with. Do we feel remorse for living organisms on a small macroscopic level, or is it just an insignificant part of our complex lives? Is the appreciation of life developed through experiences? Do we feel more pity for a single being that has been through trauma than we do for thousands that have not? In this poem, the conflict between caterpillars and humans is discussed in a such a way that brings up questions about how valuable we perceive other life to be, and how different

Poetry is a reduced dialect that communicates complex emotions. To comprehend the numerous implications of a ballad, perusers must analyze its words and expressing from the points of view of beat, sound, pictures, clear importance, and suggested meaning. Perusers then need to sort out reactions to the verse into a consistent, point-by-point clarification. Poetry utilizes structures and traditions to propose differential translation to words, or to summon emotive reactions. Gadgets, for example, sound similarity, similar sounding word usage, likeness in sound and cadence are at times used to accomplish musical or incantatory impacts.

The cycle of life is just a speck on the horizon, for humans there are 100 years or just 36,500 days. For a moth, there are just two weeks, or 14 days. In this given cycle of life, from life to death, one must find a goal, achieve that goal, all while staying in check with the ultimate fear, death. There are over 11,000 species, all of which symbolize something greater than they would even understand. Moths are tough in comparison to other insects, they can blend in with their surrounds when in danger, are attracted and center their life around a light during the night in order to get around. They must achieve one single goal, have eggs and insure that once their two week run is over, their children will come to life all while avoiding the dark encompassing cloud of death. Moths symbolize the true human character, especially in their struggle of life. This is visible in Virginia Woolf’s piece, The Death of The Moth; Helena Maria Viramonte’s piece, The Moths; and James Thurber’s piece, Moth. Human lives are filled with trials and tribulations on the course of achieving a far mounted goal, all while avoiding the dark cloud that haunts the cycle of life. Life is a simple cycle that is guided by our menacing fear of death.

When looking at a piece of poetry, the first thing that should be analyzed is the title. So in this case, one must speculate why and how Kevin Halligan selected the words he did for his title of the poem: The Cockroach. Firstly the word ‘The’ gives the reader a sense of a one particular cockroach. Not just any cockroach in general, or all cockroaches, but the single one in this poem, which he describes in intense detail. The cockroach, not a matter usually written about by many poets, provides readers with a sense of inquisitiveness that lures them in, therefore making the title stand out. The standard negative connotation of cockroach being a foul pest has been disregarded. Instead throughout the poem, Halligan’s eyes follow the cockroach, recalling all