The Grave

1 Look to the grave, that sits over yonder,

2 a young man who lived a long life.

3 And next to the stone, stands a young daughter,

4 her mother no longer a wife.

5 Now if we listen, we may hear her calling,

6 "Oh daddy, how can it be true?"

7 "Lazarus rose, when he had fallen,

8 so please daddy, please why not you?"

9 Embittered tears, leave flesh raw and scaled,

10 they wont cleanse her sorrow her pain.

11 Broken and lonely, she finds the world faulted,

12 and embittered tears fall like rain.

13 Oh cruel life, malicious and mocking,

14 where is thy comfort I pray?

15 When a young man lives, in an old mans home,

16 and a widow has hair not of gray?

17 As the young mother leads, her child to the car,

18 and looks to the future in fear.

19 I find myself thinking, that death is not far,

20 and in fact is especially near.

21 All must wither, that which will grow,

22 no matter how strong or how tall.

23 For a gravestone leaves a dark shadow,

24 and that shadow it shadows us all.

(Some of the) Devices used:

Line one contains an instance of archaic diction. "Yonder" is a largely dead word. Yet, words like these often give a feel of wisdom and age. It gives the poem a feel as if it were a parable, or a story from olden days meant to impart a life lesson, which is useful considering that is the goal of this piece.

Line two is an example of a paradox. A young man does not live a long life. However, because death is associated closely with old age, having "lived a long life" is one of the most common phrases heard in a eulogy. The apparent contradiction catches the attention of the reader (listener), and emphasizes the fact the man died, shall we say, before his time. This is important since the reality of death for all of us, regardless of age, is the focus of the poem.

Line seven is an allusion. Lazarus is a biblical figure that was raised from the dead as miracle. The daughter is, in essence asking again for a like miracle to occur with her father. However, we know this will not happen, thus emphasizing the finality of her fathers death.

Line thirteen is personification, as I am imparting the human traits of cruelty, maliciousness, and the act of mocking unto the concept of life. This emphasizes the uncaring nature of the world and life in general. Emphasizing that life does not concern itself with our hardships, nor does it take into account factors such as age and family. If you die, you die. "Life" will not spare you because you are young.

Lines thirteen through fourteen contain an apostrophe, as I am speaking to the abstract entity of life. This serves a similar purpose as the personification. By addressing life as cruel, and demanding of it comfort in a situation where none will be given, it emphasizes the implication that life offers no consolation for death, even the death of one that is young.

Line fifteen is a metaphor. Here, the phrase "old man's home" is used in reference to a grave. This is because we often associate death with old age, and do not often consider a young man occupying what would normally house the elderly. By combining this metaphor with the idea of a young man occupying it, it emphasizes the disparity between what we expect death to be, and what it is. This is also an example of irony, when considering the concept of "living" in a grave.

Line twenty four is also an example of homophone, because the word "shadow" is used as both a noun and a verb. The word shadow has connotations with it that make it apt here. We associate it with the unknown, dishonesty, mystery, sinister, and other like words. By using it twice, I not only associate death with something that looks sinister, but something that acts sinister as well. The shadow itself symbolizes death, in that it is the dark figure that follows us all. These devices emphasize the idea of death as a dark lurking force that is indiscriminate in its victims.

-BlackFox

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(Ha! This is not just me being lazy! This one was assigned! Whoo hoo!)