Death in “Cold in the Earth”, “TheToys” and “Autumn”.

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                Death in “Cold in the Earth”, “The Toys” and “Autumn”

The theme that links my three chosen poems, 'Cold in the Earth', 'The Toys' and 'Autumn' is that of death. Each of the poems successfully cover different aspects of death and show how people cope and react to death in differing ways.

The poem 'Cold in the Earth' deals with the loss caused by a death and how people cope when they experience feelings of loss. It is a subject to which many people can relate, so Emily Brontё, the authoress has written the poem in such a way that everybody who reads it gains something and can apply it to situations in which they have encountered or have been affected by death.

On reading the poem, death is viewed from the viewpoint of the voice in the poem which has never accepted that 'my Only Love' has died. The narrator expresses the view of death as 'Cold in the earth and the deep snow piled above thee' and 'cold in the dreary grave'. This indicates that he/she has not truly acknowledged that the person has died and therefore will be unable to feel or sense anything like the cold ever again. The poet uses the repetition of 'far' in the phrase 'far, far removed', the purpose being to emphasise the fact that the narrator feels that his/her lover's grave is so far away in 'Angora' (Turkey). However, it makes the reader realise that their separation is much more than geographical, for they are separated by death. Emily Brontё capitalises 'my Only Love' thus putting emphasis on the fact that the narrator has never moved on or loved another person since the death.

The poet has tried to make the poem very powerful and dynamic so that it has an impact on the reader. To achieve this, she uses strong words, when necessary, to emphasise the terrible scenario. A good example of this is 'severed it last by Time's all-wearing wave?'. The word 'severed' is used as it is a strong word, giving the feeling of finality. This is true of the poem because once a person has died, they are gone forever. The personification of 'Time' makes it into a real rather than an abstract energy or force against which the voice is fighting.

The image of the sea is introduced at the beginning of the poem. It is an interesting idea as it can either be pleasant and supportive, taking you places or it can be cruel and ruin lives. In the poem, I see it as a passage through time. In association with the sea, waves are mentioned in the phrase 'Time's all-wearing wave'. When you think of waves and the sea, you often get an image of them crashing against rocks and wearing them away. Here, time can be seen as the force, which is wearing the woman away. Another image that comes to mind is when you wave goodbye. That is what the woman needs to do, say goodbye to her love once and for all. Yet at the end of the line, there is a question mark. The phraseology seems to be, at first, as if a statement is being made, but then, abruptly at the end it becomes a question indicating that the voice is very unsure of him/herself and his/her emotions.

Assonance in the line 'now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover over the mountains on Angora's shore' of the vowel sound 'ough' gives a feel of regret. Also, the phrase 'hover over' gives a feeling of uneasiness in attitude. To add to this feeling, the poem is written in an 'AB AB' way. The word 'hover' is written where it should rhyme with the word 'cover'. It nearly rhymes but not exactly, adding to the feeling of uneasiness. The questioning tone not only conveys her insecurity and depression but also gives the reader the opportunity to answer the question his/herself.

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Emily Bronte repeats 'ever' in the phrase 'ever, ever more' to emphasise the length of time that the voice and his/her love will be separated for. This also brings out the fact that death is forever, there is nothing after it, it is final. It is quite ironic that the narrator begins to say that she/he is forgetting about him/her in the verse 'Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover over the Mountains on Angora's shore' when it is clear to the reader that he/she has not accepted the death. This can be seen by the fact that ...

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