{"id":15139,"date":"2024-09-04T06:02:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T06:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.essaybishops.com\/au\/poems-explore-the-theme-of-death-english-literature-essay\/"},"modified":"2024-09-04T06:02:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T06:02:29","slug":"poems-explore-the-theme-of-death-english-literature-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/poems-explore-the-theme-of-death-english-literature-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Poems Explore The Theme Of Death English Literature Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How do the Authors of \u2018Remember\u2019, \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 and \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 use their poems to explore the theme of death? Christina Rossetti\u2019s \u2018Remember\u2019, Phyllis McCormack\u2019s \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 and Chinua Achebe\u2019s \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 all explore the effects of death and the suffering it causes for everyone directly involved. In Rossetti\u2019s \u2018Remember\u2019 the poet shows us the pain and despair associated with death. McCormack\u2019s \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 is a plea for people to see past the typical stereotype of old people as being hopeless and not worth caring for, when they are nearing death. Chinua Achebe\u2019s \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 conveys to us the utter devotion a mother feels for her child whilst knowing that her time is limited, and is based on refugees in the Nigerian civil war in the 1960\u2019s.<\/p>\n

In Christina Rossetti\u2019s \u2018Remember\u2019 a woman is first asking her partner to never forget her even though she is close to death, but then changes her mind and realizes that it is rational for him to forget her and live his own life. The first stanza starts with her saying \u201cRemember me when I am gone away,\u201d in this the woman addresses her loved one, and even though she uses the imperative it does not feel commanding at all. In doing this Rossetti has effectively established a sense of sympathy towards the woman. The next line \u201cGone far away into the silent land;\u201d uses \u201cGone far away\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 \u201d as a euphemism of death and with the use of the word \u201cfar\u201d the euphemism becopmes more powerful due to the fact that distance is added. The other half of the sentence \u201csilent land\u201d presents us with a tranquil image of the afterlife whilst still giving the reader a sense of isolation through the use of the word \u201csilent\u201d. Rossetti uses alliteration in \u201chold me by the hand,\u201d to clearly show us what their relationship used to be and to present us with a physical connection that has been lost because of her death. The second stanza is similar to the first in the sense that she is trying to convince her partner never to forget her. The final stanza gives us a dramatic change to the rest of the poem. She now tells her partner that it would be ok to \u201cforget me for a while\u201d. This shows us that she is actually a caring person and only wants what is best for her partner, and rather have him move on than linger in pain for the rest of his life. As we are now given an image of her caring love the poem ends optimistically.<\/p>\n

As this is a sonnet it should follow either the Petrachan structure or the Shakespearean structure, \u2018Remember\u2019 does neither, although it is quite similar to the Petrarchan structure. A Petrarchan structure would typically follow the rhyming pattern of A-B-B-A\/A-B-B-A\/C-D-E-C-D-E (the slashes representing the change in stanza), whereas Rossetti\u2019s sonnet follows the rhyming structure of A-B-B-A\/A-B-B-A\/C-D-D-E-C-E. I found that Rossetti commonly changes the rhyming pattern in her sonnets\u00a0[1<\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0. This is done intentionally as the meaning form the octet has now been changed in the sestet. At first it was a plea for her partner not to forget her, and then it changed to her wanting her partner to forget. This makes the poem very fluid because not only does the context of the lines change, the rhyming pattern has also adapted to this change in context. The iambic pentameter adds a very smooth rhythm to the poem, making it seem as though the woman is calm and not angered, even in death.<\/p>\n

\u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 and \u2018Remember\u2019 are alike in the sense that they both have a voice presenting an argument which pleads for remembrance. In \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 we are presented with an old lady whose goal is to try and convince the nurses to see past the typical stereotype of old people as hopeless and not worth caring for, as she is nearing death and does not want to be remembered as such. The title of this poem immediately evokes a sense of death as old age is often associated with it. The first 22 lines are a series of questions which are directed towards the nurses, and are trying to reveal the typical beliefs that the nurses have when caring for the old woman. The turning point of this poem occurs at line 23-24 \u201cThen open your eyes\/ you\u2019re not looking at me.\u201d This line is the old lady demanding to be acknowledged by the nurses. The original negative attack upon the nurses has now changed to positive, happy memories as we are led through her life. In this life story the language has completely changed from a conversational style to a more poetic style. This change is shown by line 34 \u201cwith wings on her feet,\u201d which is a metaphor for the freedom she once had, whereas now her freedom is restricted as she cannot leave the hospital. The recollections of her life are extremely accurate and since we are going through her life as she ages it feels as if we are turning the pages of a book \u201cAt forty\u201d, \u201cAt fifty\u201d. One interesting thing that McCormack has done is that she has kept this part all in present tense. Doing this is a way of showing the reader that these memories are kept fresh in her mind, and it shows us that she can remember it with ease.<\/p>\n

The next turning point of the poem again induces a mood change except this time it is from positive to negative. The very first line (line 57) of this mood change alone sets the tone for the rest of the poem. \u201cDark days are upon me,\u201d this line shows us just what her life is like now, fearful and cold. The personification of nature in line 67\/68 \u201cTis her jest to make\/ old age look like a fool.\u201d shows us her thoughts and feelings; that she feels like an idiot and is there to be laughed at. This last part contains imagery associated with death-\u201ccrumbles\u201d, \u201cold carcass\u201d and \u201cbattered heart\u201d. This imagery makes the reader realize what is happening to the woman in her old age, and that her death is inevitable. The final thing worth mentioning about this poem is that although the woman does not want to die she accepts that her death is a \u201cstark fact\u201d and asks the nurses one more time to see past her physical body and look inside and see who she really is.<\/p>\n

Similarly, \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 also presents a series of \u201cstark fact[s]\u201d to present the horrors of death for the refugees in Nigeria. In Chinua Achebe\u2019s \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 we are shown what daily life is like for refugees in the Nigerian civil war; they are filled with death and sorrow. This poem is based on the refugees who were in the civil war in Nigeria in the 1960\u2019s\u00a0[2<\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0, and although he bases this poem on only one of the refugee families, in essence this was what was happening to all the refugees. This civil war created millions of refugees which had to flee to the south-east of Nigeria to avoid being killed2. One of the first things Achebe does in this poem is evoke a sense of religious images of veneration by referring to \u201cMadonna and Child\u201d. These images suggest the sheer devotion the refugee mother feels for her dying child, and it also attaches not only a physical love but a spiritual love as well. This first stanza is in complete contrast the second one in which we are presented with negative and vulgar language, which portrays the situation of the refugees. Achebe has effectively appealed to three of our senses: touch, smell and sight with \u201ccombed the rust-colored hair\u201d, \u201codours of diarrhoea\u201d and \u201cblown open bellies\u201d respectfully. Achebe uses these vulgar images to try and make us understand the cruel reality of the world, which is, many innocent people suffering due to the effects of war. Physical descriptions of the refugees such as \u201cwashed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms\u201d are used to again try and make us understand the horrors that these people face every day. Stanza 2 starts off with a fairly long opening sentence which has few verbs. This is worth mentioning because since there are less verbs it implies the lack of energy these people have. The mother is associated with a \u201cghost\u201d twice in this poem. This choice of diction gives us the feeling that she is close to death and that even her own death is inevitable, not just her child\u2019s. Lastly Achebe reminds us of the mother and child\u2019s previous lives, which were normal (this would have been before the civil war in Nigeria). In doing this we are brought closer to them. The final simile of the poem \u201cnow she did it like putting tiny flowers on a grave\u201d brings us back to reality and makes us realize that the child will die.<\/p>\n

All three poems deal with the theme of death often in direct and clear ways. Although each of the poet\u2019s talk about different aspects of death, they all still complement each other in terms of the final outcomes for the characters portrayed in the poem. Achebe\u2019s poem shows the outcomes of wars and political struggles whereas Rossetti\u2019s and McCormack\u2019s poems both deal with death in a more controlled environment where the cause of death is not due to the countries struggles. The main difference between all three poems is the way death is presented. In \u2018Remember\u2019, although death is a vital part of the poem it also revolves around emotions of the characters instead of just the vulgarity of death. This is a contrast to \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 where the vulgarity of death is the main aspect of the poem. \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 also differs to the other poems as age is an important characteristic of the piece. \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 and \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 similarly use physical imagery which \u2018Remember\u2019 does not. This use of physical imagery makes understanding the poet\u2019s message ultimately easier. In conclusion these poems have given me a greater appreciation for the complexity of death and how it can differ so profusely from person to person.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do the Authors of \u2018Remember\u2019, \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 and \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 use their poems to explore the theme of death? Christina Rossetti\u2019s \u2018Remember\u2019, Phyllis McCormack\u2019s \u2018Crabbit Old Woman\u2019 and Chinua Achebe\u2019s \u2018Refugee Mother and Child\u2019 all explore the effects of death and the suffering it causes for everyone directly involved. In Rossetti\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6210],"tags":[6164,618,3782,6167,6162,6163,3293,6169],"class_list":["post-15139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-literature","tag-assignment-write-a-page-essay-in-apa","tag-australia-essays","tag-bishops-writing-bureau","tag-online-assignment-prime-essays","tag-research-essay-pro-papers","tag-the-student-help-line-australia","tag-tropicalessays","tag-us-essays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/essays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}