Funeral Blues And Mid-Term Break By W. H. Auden

The deceased are often remembered in either the best of themselves or the worst. Family and friends usually look back and reminisce on the most striking qualities held by their lost loved ones. Death is a shocking and confusing period for those affected by it and the whirlwind of emotions, such as the various stages of grief, catch many by surprise. Born in 1908, Theodore Roethke was an American poet who was deemed one of the most proficient and leading poets of his generation. In his poem, “Elegy for Jane”, Roethke uses a variety of poetic devices to express the different themes of love, happiness, and grief. His use of imagery, symbolism, persona, tone and word choice, contribute to the deeper meaning of the poem, assisting in the expression of the speaker’s feelings for Jane and of how, Jane, herself felt.

Recently I studied two poems with the same theme, “Lucozade “By Jackie Kay and “Visiting Hour “ By Norman McCaig. Both poets talk about death and by using a word set they create a mental image of what is happening and this reminds me of times were I had to visit loved ones and how emotional it was.

In the beginning of the short story, as Brother reflects on Doodle’s life, the author uses personification and foreshadowing to create a mood of remorse. As he gazes out of the window into his backyard, Brother states that “the graveyard flowers were blooming. ...speaking softly the names of our dead” (Hurst 1). The flowers provide flashbacks of the past, and foreshadow a loss of life. The loneliness felt by Brother causes readers to consider how they would feel if their loved one was gone. As Brother observes the seasons, it is noted that “summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born” (Hurst 1). The personifications of the seasons as stages in the cycle of life and death creates an unsure and uncertain mood. The shift between seasons creates an idea of change and uncertainty of events to come. Hurst creates a mood of remorse through

A poem which explores the feeling of loss is ‘Visiting Hour’ by Norman MacCaig. In this powerful and moving poem, the writer uses techniques such as imagery, symbolism and word choice to effectively grip the reader and keeps them with him throughout the poem.

Both John Doone and Emily Dickinson wrote amazing poems. “Valediction Forbidding Mourning” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” come together to give the reader two different ideas of death in itself. There are also extended metaphors in each poem. The amazing part of both of these poems, is that you can get so much out of it from reading it over and over again. There are so many meanings to so many words inside these poems.

In W.H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues” (pg. 762), the poem takes place a short time after the speaker’s beloved has died and how the speaker feels that his life has been forever changed and that he will never recover. In Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” (pg. 767), the poem takes place a short time after the speaker’s beloved has passed away and how she feels that she can master the feeling of losing someone the she loves. However, she seems to be in denial over her true feelings. Between the two poem’s, Auden’s “Funeral Blues” seems to do a better job than  Bishop’s “One Art”, in using rhyme, alliteration, and structure to show the reader the feelings and emotional state of the speaker after their beloved has died.

Both Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Dirge Without Music” and Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” are poems that discuss the emotional repercussions of death and dying. Grieving the loss of a loved one can be an extremely excruciating experience. At times one may feel suffocated by the sorrow and are desperate for a way to find relief from these intense emotions that are apparent in the grieving process. This is where works of literature can be therapeutic when dealing with difficult emotions. Poetry can be extremely helpful in this sense as one of its purposes is to emphasize certain feelings, ones that we feel but are not sure how to process. It can bring to life what we wish we could do or say, but are not able to. By cross-referencing

“Home Burial” is mostly about a tense conversation between a husband and wife who recently buried their child. They show their grief and anger at the situation with insensitive words, such as the intimidating tone for ‘dear’. The wife is clearly upset after seeing the burial site of her child out of the window. This discovery is confronting but also fresh and meaningful as she is emotional and she wants to know why her husband is not showing grief. Frost illustrates a couple of broken structures in the poem. “What is it – what? She said. “Just that I see.” This quote is an example of the broken structure, it’s a metaphor for their relationship, which the title of the poem is also foreshadowing the collapse of their marriage. “A man must partly give up being a man with womenfolk.” This quote is juxtaposed with men and women used to show their divide between the husband and wife. “Two that don’t love can’t live together with them. But two that do can’t live together with them.” Is a paradox, it reveals the truth about their lives but they can’t resolve their broken relationship. The wife confronts the husband, “Who is that man? I didn’t know you.” This quote is visual imagery as she was looking at her husband digging the grave. She made the confronting discovery that had influenced her original thoughts of her husband. This poem links to the confronting discovery by showing the husband and wife’s different perspectives on their dead son and no matter how much the husband tries to understand her, they can’t mend their relationship. This discovery is also in “Will Grayson, Will Grayson”, as it can relate to “Home Burial” with a broken relationship. There are two Will Graysons with relationship problems with the same person, Tiny Cooper. The first Will’s relationship with Tiny is that they

Seemed to provide me with a private context for exploring my own grief at the loss of my father” (Stanford). She informs her readers that while writing these poems, she was going through a terrible time for her and her family, so it's understandable why the theme of grief is very

Is death really just supposed to make you feel somber, can you look at it in a new perspective? Death is something that all living creatures go through, people say death gives life meaning. In “Molly the Brave” by Jim Harrison, he attempts to explain the emotions of death through a story about a girl. The poem starts out quickly with a girl dying, then moves on through a reflection of her life. Harrison’s poem, “Molly the Brave,” conveys a bittersweet mood, through it’s simple yet carefully thought out word choice. To show that death isn’t a just sad event, it’s also a time of reflection on fond memories.

“The Funeral” by Band of Horses, written by Ben Bridwell, is about a man troubled by his past who drinks to forget, becomes a drunk, and in the end, end his life in a car accident. The photo I have chosen comes from this song “The Funeral” and it is of a man sitting alone at a bar. In the lyrics the double meaning “mourning to wake you” calls to mind the terms “mourning” and “wake” both strongly associated with funerals. “It’s really too late to call so we wait for morning to wake you, it’s all we’ve got” meaning, his family members should have done something earlier but didn’t, and now his addiction is stronger than ever. They wait each day hoping that the person will get better and change his life.

Through this sentimental and powerful novella in verse, Nikki Grimes tells the story of a family who grieves the loss of one of its members. Through 52 poems (26 pairs of verses), the surviving siblings, Jesse and Jerilyn, mourn the death of their older brother, Jaron. The layout of the book is somehow unusual since it lacks a Table of Contents and an Epilogue. There is, however, an Author's Note and an Acknowledgments page at the end of the volume. The verses are arranged in alternate or paired poems of the two siblings. The poems' titles are the same for both children, only being differentiated by the inclusion of their names ('The Funeral-Jesse', 'The Funeral-Jerilyn'). The volume is illustrated by Raul Colon. The soft-colored illustrations

As humans we are shown true love throughout our lifetime whether it be through relatives or interpersonal relationships as well as experience true pain when being separated by a loved one to the hands of death itself. But what if the person you loved the most was taken from you by fatal incidents, leaving you alone in the world forever? American poet Edgar Allan Poe and European poet W.H. Auden both explore the central concept of agony brought upon when being separated by a ones true love at the face of death. While Poe's ¨Annabel Lee¨ and Auden's ¨Funeral Blues¨ both express grief and despair as well as true love's devotion, Poe takes a more cynical tone to his poem and Auden shows a more lamentful and empty feeling to his poem. While individually each poem inhabits a different tone, the use of imagery to nature and diction to further express their poem's theme. also .

GRIEF AND LOSS SUMMARY Jilanna Bacchus Chapter 1 Introduction to Grief and Loss Death is an unavoidable natural occurrence and event of life that affects each one of us on some level, at least at one point in our lives. It is something that happens to everyone and will create feelings of loss and grief in those who have been left behind. Loss is indeed everywhere and whether you are a professional or not, understanding grief and loss, and how to help someone through it all, is very crucial. As a parent, you will have to help your child deal with symbolic losses all throughout their lives, such as the loss of friendships or moving to a different part of town.

The poem that I have selected for this essay is “Talking to Grief” by Denise Levertov. I chose this poem because it talks about grief. It also talks about the place that grief should have in a person’s life. The poem describes grief, and compares it to a “homeless dog.” It also describes how a dog deserves its own place in the house, instead of living under a porch or being homeless. This poem talks about how a person can be aware that grief is present, but that it is not always acknowledged and accepted. We all experience grief in different ways, and for different reasons. Everyone deals with grief in their own personal way. This poem describes a point in a person’s life when they are ready to accept grief as a part of their life