The Theme of Death in Poetry Essay - 819 Words

The Theme of Death in Poetry Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are two Modern American Poets who consistently wrote about the theme of death. While there are some comparisons between the two poets, when it comes to death as a theme, their writing styles were quite different. Robert Frost’s poem, â€Å"Home Burial,† and Emily Dickinson’s poems, â€Å"I felt a Funeral in my Brain,† and â€Å"I died for Beauty,† are three poems concerning death. While the theme is constant there are differences as well as similarities between the poets and their poems. The obvious comparison between the three poems is the theme of death. Both poets, in these works and many others, display a fascination with the death of themselves as well as the death of peers, and†¦show more content†¦Where as â€Å"I felt a Funeral in my Brain,† and â€Å"I died for Beauty,† by Dickinson are considerably short poems, in which she seals as much as she reveals. Emily Dickinson’s poetry was not that of any traditional style. She was criticized for capitalizing words in the middle of sentences, using inexact rhymes and only giving a partial understanding. She loved to use ellipses, in order to let the reader finish a thought. Many of these were actually eliminated in many of her first publications, which were never published until after her death. In the two poems, â€Å"I felt a Funeral in my Brain,† and â€Å"I died for Beauty† all of these characteristics are present, including her usual four line stanzas in the meter of traditional hymns. Written in first person, â€Å"I felt a Funeral in my Brain† is about the thought of her own funeral. Imagining what is would be like in the coffin, where only the sense of sound is present. The last word of the poem is ‘–then-‘, a classic example of an ellipse, where the reader is left to finish the poem on their own. â€Å"I died for Beauty also ends with an ellipse. The poem is about two dead people, herself and another man, resting side by side, buried underground. Like â€Å"Home Burial,† by Frost, this was written in dialogue with the writer as the narrator. One died for Beauty and one for truth. Although it seemed as though they died for an important cause, with time their names will beShow MoreRelatedThemes in Poetry: Death761 Words   |  4 PagesThemes in Poetry: Death There are many frequently occurring ideas in poetry. The basic message of a poem is called a theme. All poems have a certain theme that they revolve around, such as love, nature, life, and confusion. In different poems by different poets, the same themes correlate with each other because they all revolve around the same subject matter. Although seen through different angles and viewpoints, the same message is present and intertwined within the poems. One of the mostRead More The Recurring Theme of Death in the Poetry of Philip Larkin.1366 Words   |  6 PagesThe Recurring Theme of Death in the Poetry of Philip Larkin. 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