Dorothea Lasky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lasky
Promising myself I would not do this again
Is what kept me going
A friend told me to
And I listened
Taking a thing to the end of its life
Is what I was made to do
I think I am not attuned
To the things that breathe
Well that’s not true
I am in tune to breath and life
And little falls of flowers
When the moon was high
I went out to the stream
And brought in the water
For my folks, my kin, my brethren
I brought in the greenish milk
To feed the ones who were already dying
Oh did they go
Oh I do not know
This poem originally appeared in the April 2014 Edition of Poetry Magazine.
Analysis:
When I read the poem, The End, I immediately knew that the central idea of the poem was the idea of being with someone or something until their death, and watching them die. Near the beginning of the poem, the narrator says: "Taking a thing to the end of it's life is what I was made to do." The author uses this connection to say that it is her duty or job to be with people until their untimely demise. Also, near the end of the poem, the narrator says: "I brought in the greenish milk to feed the ones who were already dying." The author brings together with this line, as I believe the readers are able to make the connection between a nurse or a doctor to the narrator. This is because that when people are on the verge of dying, many nurses and doctors use feeding tubes to feed the patients, as they are not strong enough to do it themselves. Overall, to me, this poem makes a relationship to current day medical clinics, where doctors constantly are with patients who die on them by using literary devices and common similarities.
x
"The End" is a poem about the death of it's speaker. Thought it is never stated that the speaker is dying, it is hinted at in the line " Promising myself I would not do this again // Is what kept me going." In other words, there is only need to experience death once. As the speaker gains a new found synchronization with life she realizes that those around her are "already dying." This poem best illustrates the inevitability and acceptance of death with the line " Taking a thing to the end of its life // Is what I was made to do"
ReplyDelete**EDITED VERSION**
ReplyDelete"The End" is a poem about the death of its speaker. Though it never states that the speaker is dying, it is hinted at in the line " Promising myself I would not do this again // Is what kept me going." In other words, there is only need to experience death once. As the speaker gains a new found synchronization with life she realizes that those around her are "already dying." This poem best illustrates the inevitability and acceptance of death with the line " Taking a thing to the end of its life // Is what I was made to do"
In this poem, the author uses imagery to show that their purpose in life is to be with people until they pass. The narrator states "taking a thing to the end it's life is what I was made to do." This clearly shows that the narrator knows for certain that this is his calling. Throughout the poem the narrator uses many examples of imagery such as "when the moon was high I went out to the stream" to show his purpose in life. This example of imagery shows just his dedication to being with those that are about to pass because the narrator is willing to go out in the middle of the night to retrieve water for them just so they are comfortable until they pass. Another example of imagery is "and little falls of flowers." This shows that even though the narrator is constantly surrounded by death, he still is "in tune to breath and life" in that he still is in touch with the world around him. The narrator doesn't let the all the deaths he experiences to affect his mental state by bring him down and out of touch with what's going on around him.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is a great example of what modern love is. The author is able to express modern love by depicting an event of the speaker helping with their loved ones who are dying. For example "Taking a thing to the end of its life
ReplyDeleteIs what I was made to do" the speaker though does not want to do it as expressed in the lines before this one but is helping because that is what needs to happen because love for family is always there. This type of love is agape love. Agape love is a love that is totally selfless, where a person gives out love to another person even if this act does not benefit her/him in any way. Family sticks together and even though we may not want to do something we will if it helps our family or the people we love. "I brought in the greenish milk/To feed the ones who were already dying" this quote shows that the speaker is helping and that is how the poem is showing modern love by doing things that are showing compassion and doing the things that are the hardest for us for the people we care about.
I agree with Dalton's analysis for the most part; something I do believe he left out is that the "greenish milk" is some kind of medicine, so the responsibility of the narrator could possibly be a person working in a hospital setting, OR somebody who works in a retirement home for the elderly. Either job would entail working with people who could possibly die while in that setting.
ReplyDeletePROMPT: Read the poem carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the poetic techniques the writer uses to explore his particular situation.
The poet explores the toll that working so closely to death has on the narrator through diction in phrases like "little falls of flowers", hyperbole in claimimg their sole purpose is to take something to the end of its life, and enjambment across the entire poem.
In this poem the author uses point of view and tone I order to make their point about coming of age. The very dark and gloomy tone the engulfs the poem and show the terribleness and hardships that surround death but the idea of coming of age is prevalent saying “Is what I was made to do” and the idea “To feed the ones who were already dying” showing the added responsibility the author is faced with in her coming of age tale. The gloom knowing that those dying are “my folks, my kin, my brethren” adds to it and the author point of view knowing these are those most dear to her makes it that much more powerful.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem The End the author Dorothea Lasky uses euphonic language to describe the scene and convey the peaceful mood. The author uses words like "taking a thing to the end of its life is what I was made to do" to establish the scene of the poem, someone is dying. The euphonic language used conveys the peaceful mood of the poem with lines like "oh did they go oh I do not know".
ReplyDeletein the poem "The End" by Dorothea Lasky the author uses structure to explain the situation in which the narrator was in. the structure of the poem is broken up into two line stanzas and each stanza has something different to say about the event. this shows that the narrator is trying to make the right decision in what to do. the author also uses imagery " greenish milk" this can represent a substance that will heal all that it touches which is what the narrator needs for his desire to be with something or someone.
ReplyDelete