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Undertaking Poem Annotated

Decent Essays

The poem, “Undertaking” describes the loss of a women’s husband. The wife cleans and treats her loved one’s body as if it is still alive. But she realizes the death, until his body is taken away and not treated with the love she gave him. Even though her husband has passed away, the speaker seems to still have a relationship with him through the description of her delicate treatment towards him. The relationship between the wife and husband is still alive. Through the description of the poem we see that the wife does not see her husband as a dead body. She treats her husband’s body as something alive that feels every touch. In the middle of the first stanza, phrases like, “She took her time”, “She washed each finger”, and “Cleaning underneath

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