The Last Words Of My English Grandmother Essay
In “The Last Words of my English Grandmother” written by William Carlos Williams, and “Little Father” written by Li-Young Lee, both poems explore the acceptance of death. Throughout both poems, the poets use various strategies that are similar, such as imagery, connotation, and tone.
William Carlos Williams’ “The Last Words of My English Grandmother”, tells the story of an elder woman whose grandchild wants to bring her to the hospital because he or she believes it will be some type of help to resolve the grandmother’s illness. She resists going to the hospital because she knows she’s dying and accepts the fact that there’s nothing that can be done to help her. She understands that it 's just her time to pass on, and she’s ready for it,
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When the character says, “I buried my father in my heart. Now he grows in me, my strange son, my little root who won’t drink milk, little pale foot sunk in unheard-of night, little clock spring newly wet in the fire, little grape, parent to the future wine, a son the fruit of his own son, little father I ransom with my life.”, he/she is expressing that someone is pregnant and will be able to carry on a part of their father even though he is gone.
Even though both poems are similar, they also differ. In one of the poems someone has passed away and in the other the character was is still living.
The character from William Carlos Williams’ poem has not passed on yet and is still living. Therefore, when the grandmother says, “Yes you do what you please first then I can do what I please-” she is expressing that she is still alive but she is ready to pass on to the afterlife.
The speaker from Li-Young Lee’s poem has expressed that her father has already passed on when she/he says, “I buried my father in the sky.” When this is mentioned the character is saying that he/she’s father has died and gone to
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