The Tide Falls Longfellow

In “On Natural Death,” Thomas appeals to the readers by contemplating the subject of death with an academic approach that includes facts, data, and information. Thomas successfully transforms death from an awkward, emotional subject to a more comfortable intellectual one. This engages the readers by placing contemplation of death and dying within the confines of a more manageable and rational context. His gradual exhumation of death eases the audience into pondering the subject in the absence of emotional stress. The essay transitions from the death of an elm tree to that of a mouse. This is followed by Thomas giving a significant amount of attention to a scientific explanation of death, and then finally the description of the near death experience of a human. This use of an academic appeal moves the audience to a comfort zone with the subject of death and circumvents the common response of avoidance. The reader is simultaneously desensitized to the gravity of subject matter and given permission to consider death and dying without the normal societal negative stigma associated with the subject.

In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.

Robert Frost and William Shakespeare have been celebrated by many people because of their ability to express themselves through the written word. Here we are years after their deaths analyzing these fascinating poems about life and death. It’s clear they had similar thoughts about this subject at the time of these writings, even though their characters could not have been more opposite. For both poets, life is too

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.

This poem talks about nature and death. William Cullen Bryant shares that nature can make death less painful. He says that when we start to think about death, we should go outside, and look around and listen to the natural earth sounds. This is supposed to remind us that when we die, we will mix back into the earth. The poem tells us that when we die, we will not be alone. We will be with every other person that has ever been buried, In the ground, which in this poem is called the “great tomb of man”. It also tells us that even those that are still living will soon die and join in the great tomb of man. This poem is meant to comfort those that are afraid of dying and death in general. At the end of the poem, we are told to think of death as

Death is a natural cause from the human condition. There are three poems that explore death. “Thanatopsis” by William C. Bryant, “Dust in the wind” by Kansas, and Don't fear the reaper.” by Blue Oyster Cult.

Death is part of the human life cycle, approximately 151,600 people die each day. Everyone wonders how they will die, if they suffer, if it’s tragic or if it’s just simply peaceful. In each of the three poems the main focus is death. Each poem shows a different feeling about death. “Thanatopsis” by William Bryant, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult and “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas, all have different meanings of death.

As people near the time of their deaths, they begin to reflect upon the history and events of their own lives. Both John Keats’ “When I have Fears” and Henry Longfellow’s “Mezzo Cammin” reflect upon the speakers’ fears and thoughts of death. However, the conclusions between these two poems end quite differently. Although both reflect upon Death’s grasp, Keats’ displays an appreciation and subtle satisfaction with the wonders of life, while Longfellow morbidly mourns his past inactions and fears what events the future may bring.

As I searched for an editorial to write on, the Op-Ed, “What Our Cells Teach Us About a ‘Natural’ Death,” immediately caught my eye. It may have been due to recent events that left death on my mind, or the alien combination of ‘natural’ and ‘death’. Nonetheless, Warraich’s piece snagged my attention. His article provides an interesting interpretation of death and human relations towards the sore subject, and gives a sound argument to support it.

To begin, in the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”, awe of nature is used to

Regardless of race, caste, religion, or age, every human has wondered about the one fact of life that unifies us all: What is death? Both poems, “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” by Margaret Atwood and “Because I could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson share a common subject of death. Using figurative language, both poems illustrate distinct takes on a similar topic.

When one witnesses a death, he or she may ponder the weight of life and how one’s life turns to death. Some spend time lamenting the death, while others may use it as a catalyst to appreciate their own lives more. In his poem “The Death of a Toad”, Richard Wilbur paints a serious and somber description of the toad’s death, then crafts an elegiac yet still hopeful response to that death , in which he ponders the weight of the toad’s missing presence.

Death consumes the world, there has been almost three million deaths so far with only three weeks into the year. There are people all over the world who come face to face with death daily. It seems as if death roams the world. Some deaths are more tragic than others. In the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, several people die but the death of Curley’s wife was the most tragic of all. She was unjustly murdered and she didn’t even have an identity. When she died, she left the world in loneliness, in the end no one ever got to know her or mourn her death. She died alone. Innocent people die every minute, she was one of those innocent people. One minute, a person can be full of life and the next they’re gone.

Since the beginning of time, people have many different ways of going about the idea of death and what the afterlife may hold for them, whether they’ll be reunited with family and friends or if they’ll be reincarnated or, maybe nothing at all. This is true for writers, poets and artists. William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis”, Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” they all center their idea death, but approach it differently and conveys their points differently. One glorifies death, one says life is meaningless and the other glorifies life.

Emily Dickinson once said, “Dying is a wild night and a new road.” Some people welcome death with open arms while others cower in fear when confronted in the arms of death. Through the use of ambiguity, metaphors, personification and paradoxes Emily Dickinson still gives readers a sense of vagueness on how she feels about dying. Emily Dickinson inventively expresses the nature of death in the poems, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (280)”, “I Heard a fly Buzz—When I Died—(465)“ and “Because I could not stop for Death—(712)”.