How Does Tracy K. Smith Create An Elegy In Life On Mars

This should inspire people to live within the present, because once they have left, their prints in life will soon be erased from memory as well. One thing both poems again show is that the world still rotates upon its axis even though another person is gone. "Thanatopsis" recognizes this in lines 45-48

The United State's 2018 Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith is a renowned author, well known for her book of poems titled Life on Mars. Throughout her poems, a recurring theme of grief is presented by Smith. The grief in Smith's work can be attributed to the loss of her father which was the inspiration for her poetry. Another inspiration for Smith's poetry is the artist David Bowie. Bowie plays an important role in assisting Smith in coping with her father's death and he is also the inspiration of many of her other poems, including "Savior Machine," which shares a name with the Bowie song. In "Savior Machine" by David Bowie, there is a machine created by the government that yields a perfect utopian society, but the only problem in this now­perfect

The theme of war is present in both poems as something to be remembered. However the memories are unwanted and the reader sees them turn into nightmares. In Remains the speaker is followed by a “blood-shadow” and the speaker in War Photographer is haunted by a “half-formed ghost”; both have dark connotations. The adjective “blood” shows that the speaker in Remains has been the cause of death and

The poem "When death comes" by Mary Oliver describes the speaker 's turmoil of wanting to experience the world and become a part of it before the certainty of death arrives. The speaker wants to live a life where she is not bound by time but grounded by the possibilities stored in the world around her. "I look upon time as no more than an idea/ and I consider eternity as another possibly" (line 13-14) further describes that the speaker sees time as merely an idea if one is living it prosperously and to its full potential. In addition, the theme of the poem focuses on living and leaving the world with "curiosity" (9) rather than spending every moment with uncertainty. The poem "When death comes" illustrates the value of finding self-worth because the speaker "[doesn 't] want to end up having simply having visited the world" (28) instead she wants to become a part of the world, and Mary Oliver demonstrates that with the use of her tone and figurative languages such as similes and repetition.

The repetition of “walk” at the end of every stanza of this section “…on their slow walk/…run-no walk/…robes walk/…shadows walk/…hollow walk/…know-walk” (35-48) reflects how tough it is to move on from a loss. Through the line “Our limbs tangle in sleep, but our shadows walk,” (44) Smith tries to show how she has been affected by the memories of her lost father and how hard she is struggling to cope with his death. She emphasizes to walk away so that she can divert herself from his memories but ultimately, she wants the readers to realize that the only option left is to accept the truth and move on from the grief. According to an article Life On Mars, “The poems about Floyd are affecting and hauntingly convey Smith’s grief as she attempts to cope with his death. In referring to the unknowable expanses of the universe, she is able to express her feelings of both loss and hope.” (Malone, 2). The line “My father won’t lie still…/ all he must now know-walk?” (47-48) shows the positivity in Smith about how she believes that her father has not vanished away, rather his existence has just changed. She creates a sense of hope and imagination of her father in space so that she can develop enough courage to overcome the truth of his

To Dickinson, darkness seems to represent the unknown. The focus of this poem is people trying to find their way in the dark, where nothing can be foreseen. Sight is a prevalent theme in Untitled, achieved through words like

It is basically about welcoming death and not fearing it. The poem begins by introducing us to nature. Nature is then personified and it is said that nature speaks in a gloomy mood and helps the person feel better. Then the narrator tells we are going to die. The speaker then says we will become like rocks because we will lose all emotions. The narrator says that our rotted bodies will be used as food by trees. He then says that when we die we will be with lots great people in one giant tomb. He then says that everyone dies. The poem then ends with the speaker telling us that we should not be scared of death but we should think of it as a sleep full of nice dreams. This poem has a lot of romantic characteristics. This poem explores the afterlife of humans. “And, lost each human trace, surrendering up thine individual being, shalt thou go, to mix for ever with the elements, to be a brother to the insensible rock.” This quote tells us that after we die we will lose every trace of what made us human and that we will lose all of our emotions and senses and we will be just like rocks. “Thou shalt lie down, with patriarchs of the infant world—with kings, the powerful of the earth—the wise, the good, fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, all in one mighty sepulchre. The

The lines “Probably he spun out of himself/ And landed squarely in that there, his new/… vibrating at the speed Of Belief” (49-52) infers Smith imagining her father in heaven. In the line “She was probably waiting/…him to come (52-54), it can be assumed that she refers to her mother whom she lost years ago. According to an article “Far from Ordinary: A Profile Of Tracy K Smith”, “Tracy K Smith was twenty-two when her mother died in 1994” (Shea). Smith had already lost her mother many years ago and losing her father again broke her completely. It can be inferred that Smith was very close to her father, and on losing him she had to tackle a circle of loneliness and depression. In an interview, “‘Moving toward What I Don’t Know’: An Interview with Tracy K. Smith” when she was asked how she came up with Life on Mars, she

Judith Harris proposes that Jane Kenyon’s poem “Let Evening Come" is a motion of light which is a “balance of upward, downward, rising and falling” (Harris, J. 2004) movement. Harris interprets this poem using sunlight as an indirect influence and an antecede need for beauty which is influenced by Kenyon’s faith. Darkness is a form of uncertainty and is unpredictable. When darkness comes it metamorphosis our spirits and souls into something “yet to be named.” Harris points out the reiteration of the word “Let” and argues that “Let” is a representation of leaving things unfinished or incomplete. Conveying the acceptance of the inescapable future. Harris points out faith sustains body and soul; the body obtains the soul as the soul is uninhabited

Throughout each poem, metaphors are evident. In line 11 of the poem “Remember,” “For if the darkness and corruption leave,” the metaphor is used to describe that the person will become happier after moving on or forgetting about the dead loved

President Ronald Reagan, in his speech, “Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger,” emphasizes the tragedy that occurred on January 28, 1986. Reagan’s purpose is to take America out of their misery. He wants his citizens to no longer feel sadness and grief for the seven heroes that died on the mission, but rather feel honor, admiration, and appreciation toward the those who gave their life to space. In addition, he hopes to motivate future space explorer in his speech of the Challenger tragedy. Reagan adopts a motivational tone in order to inspire America to stop mourning for the seven heroes that died. Instead, he wants them to go pursue their passion

In the poem by Sax, he uses anaphoras in the end of the poem by using “this is … this is…” (l. 9-11) in the beginning of each sentence to describe the likeliness of each object to his emotion. The setting of his poem is more ambiguous than Levine’s poem but it could be inferred that it’s at night during winter it could also be in the character’s house during that time as the character remembers the memories that cause him to grieve. Levine’s poem uses symbolism to describe the character’s time of revelations during his process of grieving which is mentioned as a dance but is really the time spent walking in the woods (l. 19). The setting of Levine’s poem is in the woods which can be inferred from the imagery of pinecones and mountain

The poems begin with beautifully written imagery, with the volta revealing the horrors of her family’s past. The death of a sister is conveyed in numerous pieces, such as “My Mother Stops Feeding Hummingbirds”. The poem is placed in the beginning of the collection and opens with colorful descriptions of her mother’s love for feeding the hummingbirds in her yard. The turn then strikes with the line, “Then / she adopted my dead sister’s dog…” (Scott 4). With this line the tone of the poem changes instantly. Later in the book, the cause of death becomes slowly more evident. The poem “Shroud” discusses an experience at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting with her disintegrating sister, ending with the striking lines, “I sensed that weight, felt / Captain Morgan as if / he brushed against my hip.” Finally, the reader’s suspicions are confirmed at the end of the book with “Making up Stories about all that Jägermeister”. In this piece Wendy Scott creates scenarios in which her sister could have consumed these bottles of liquor. What begins as an almost playful, imaginative poem ends in a somber thought. Scott again cleverly utilizes the volta, but this time in the form of a question to her deceased sister. She writes, “Was it weeks or years ago / you ceased to see the fridge, / no longer noticed warm?” (Scott

The time the narrator remembers in his poem is one where radio was a large part of life. Radio consisted of many programs that he enjoyed immensely. The best examples of these are the Red Lantern, and Let’s pretend. The two programs were adventurous, story telling series’. They brought people a lot of joy, and were cultural staples of the time. The narrator clearly enjoyed them and states he still does. WCBS and Kate Smith were also listened to by most. The poem examines also Lamont Cranston, a radio host known for The Shadow. The Shadow was a man who could become invisible and spy on men. The poem eventually says of him, “What was it he used to say (after the transformation when he was safe / & invisible & the unbelievers couldn't throw stones?) ‘Heh, heh, heh. / Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows (lines 22-24)’” Because of this, the narrator believes The Shadow to have been a divine character. He could observe men invisibly, a job previously thought to be only for god. This made The Shadow a force of good during the time period. Although the narrator reveals that only himself and Jack Kerouac, another famous beat writer, ever thought about him in such a way. The poem seems to take pride in the fact that the narrator experienced his bygone era in a different way than most. This in fact ties into the evil of the

“There’s been a Death, in the Opposite House” by Emily Dickinson helps readers understand what happened after the death. The poem talks about a death that happened in a house and how the dark memory will always be there. Readers can see the connection of chaotic town people and a very dull and dark environment. The figurative language guides readers through the panic and suffering of all the towns people. Dickinson writes, “There’ll be that dark parade” (Line 20). The metaphor in the poem shows how much of an impact the death had in the town because everyone will always remember the dark thing that had happened in that location. Dickinson’s poem points out how a death can affect everyone around and can even be looked back