The Outlook of Death in three poems (Poetry Anthology comparison)

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Death is life’s only certainty. At the moment when each year – each day – begins to weigh heavy importance, we are forced to circumspect not only on the aspects of death, but also life, grief, and the after-life. This essay explores the outlook of death from three poems – Crabbit Old Woman by Phyllis McCormack, Refugee Mother and Child by Chinua Achebe, and Remember, by Christina Rossetti. These verses have moved people with their semblances of reality, and this essay studies the various outlooks of death presented.

Crabbit Old Woman is written in the persona of an elderly woman reflecting on her life in a nursing home. This first-person account positions us to view the situation from her angle. She is frustrated at the young nurse’s inability to see beyond her physicality. The poem is structured through short, six/seven syllable lines, rhetorical questions and rhyme, which establishes a sense of it being a rapid rapport with the nurse, whilst also an inner dialogue. The poem critiques the presumptuousness of our highly visual society. Nature is pejoratively personified in “Nature is cruel, ‘tis her jest, to make old age look a fool”. The physical effect of age is evident, “The body it crumbles”. The word ‘crumbles’ metaphorically refers to biscuit-like weakness, which reinstates her physical state. Her physical and emotional beings, however, are presented as separate entities through juxtaposition – for “inside this old carcass, a young girl dwells”. This denotes the eagerness with which we, as a community, sort people into categories that do not holistically represent them inside and out. The sibilant images “stocking” and “shoe” are used in conjunction to create the effect of alliteration. They are metonymical with children – vulnerable and naïve. However, this same theory is applied to her, a wise, experienced, woman. “As I move at your bidding” and “When you say in a loud voice, ‘I do wish you’d try’” reveal the patronizing authority the geriatric nurse exerts over her, as if she is a child.

Her outlook on life is accepting of its impermanence. She states, “I think of the years… all gone too fast – /And accept the stark fact, that nothing can last” as a resigning summary. She flits wistfully over her youth, over her lover, her dead sons, and her grandchildren, in a chronological flashback. The use of metaphorical clichés “with wings on her feet” and aposiopesis, “A bride now at twenty – /my heart gives a leap” adds great emotional impact to her reminiscences. This creates the effect of her remembrances being all that she has to sustain her sanity, when her dignity has been stolen, “I remember the joys… pain… and I’m living life over again”. The combination of metric poetry and parallelism draw a comparison between her past and present. Despite her inextricable slew of memories, her life is ultimately consigned to a nursing home – and in addition, not even acknowledged. In a similar fashion, Remember touches over the desire to move on, smile and live whilst being able to retrospect without tears. There is an incredible sadness among her words, as we empathize with her isolation and abandonment, “I look at the future, I shudder with dread”, and we feel sympathetic when she notes “my young are all busy/with young of their own”. The reader also strongly empathizes with the suffering portrayed in Refugee Mother and Child. To counter-balance the young, irritable nurse’s obscured perception of an acquiescent, old woman, a leitmotif is employed throughout the poem: the imagery of eyes with “open your eyes” and “see ME”, ‘me’ capitalized, as if the nurse is can only discern her defects. “And I think of the years, and the love I have known.” reverts to the inexhaustible wisdom that comes with age, and descends towards the central theme of death’s approach.

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By contrast, Refugee Mother and Child builds a stale setting, plagued with disease, in which death is far too common and too near to allow for lengthy reflection as seen in Crabbit Old Woman. The writer, Chinua Achebe, draws up a picture of sickly adults and emaciated children. The extreme deprivation and harsh conditions have eroded the sense of normal, human emotion, to create a lifestyle based solely on primitive survival instinct. The mother and child in subject are left to fend for themselves. Achebe was born into civil war and brutality, and so, was eclipsed by these very ...

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The writer’s spelling, grammar and punctuation are fine. Good use of vocabularies has been shown, including a wide range of words and names of poetic techniques. However, the introduction could have been more concise, because the function of an introduction is to tell the reader what the essay is going to be about and get to the point quickly. A better start could have been used for some of the paragraphs, because it would help the reader understand what the writer wishes to talk about better. Another advice would be to integrate the quotations into the sentences to make the essay flow more smoothly.

The writer has been able to pick up the important elements of the poems and the poetic devices used within each one. A lot of evidence from the poems has also been included in the essay, showing that the student understands the poems thoroughly. The judgements made out of the evidence are quite suitable with reasons being given. However, it would be better if more evidence is given, and the student should remember that there should be at least an evidence for every point made, no matter how obvious it seems. The conclusion is appropriate and very well written, since it sums up all the points that has been made in the essay.

Comparisons between the three poems have been shown by the student, but they could have been presented in a clearer format. The author has decided to talk about each poem individually. By doing it this way, the readers will get to understand each poem, but might not be able to see the similarities and difference between the poems as clearly. A better way to do this would be to focus on one aspect of all three poems in each paragraph. For example, the author might talk about the point of view of each poem in one paragraph and then go on to talk about the tone in the next one. This will enable to get a better picture of how each poem compares to the others. Nevertheless, the author has answered the question.