Funerals Mary Elizabeth Frye Analysis

1. The poem I’ve chosen is from Mary Elizabeth Frye, and I chose it because it has a very special place in my heart. I find it very comforting and solacing during times of grief and sorrow.

The poem has many different lines that illustrates the simplest beauties of nature and its seasons. For instance, line 6 says, “I am the gentle autumn rain.” The way it captures these images draws comfort into my mind and soul. It makes me feel secure and protected, knowing that the speaker is around in my surroundings. It gives me a sense that the beauty of life goes on despite the rough times that are attached to it. The light and gentle use of adjectives used to describe nature gives me the feeling of assurance that makes me feel like the world will be okay, and that everything will be okay.

This poem is often recited in funerals, which is where I first heard it and it’s lived with me since. The way the author has written the poem makes it seem like the narrator is the person who has passed. This “dead man’s” monologue makes a bigger impact on me than the other poems do just because of this. It gives it more meaning since

Referring to an example, “I am the soft stars that shine at night,” the speaker’s comparing his/herself with the magnificent stars that’s covering the whole sky. In this comparison, the speaker’s claiming that he/she’s all around and that he/she never left. This metaphor offers comfort towards the people grieving and it also reinforces the theme that life goes on. The words “I am,” repeatedly used in the other metaphors, reinstate the theme from other comparisons with nature. The comparisons with beautiful images shows the speaker’s perspective of searching for beauty and life everywhere around. The metaphors helps contribute to the theme by emphasizing that life still goes on all around us, through its simple comparisons with