Friday, April 15, 2011

For the Anniversary of my Death by W.S Merwin


For The Anniversary Of My Death by W. S. Merwin

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day
When the last fires will wave to me
And the silence will set out
Tireless traveller
Like the beam of a lightless star

Then I will no longer
Find myself in life as in a strange garment
Surprised at the earth
And the love of one woman
And the shamelessness of men
As today writing after three days of rain
Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease
And bowing not knowing to what

Analysis:
            “Every year without knowing it I have passed the day/ when the last fires will wave to me”.
The opening line offers the reader a gloomy and pessimistic tone, reinforcing the dismal title. The first line is a concept that Merwin is envisioning his own death, and the “fires” the “will have to me” might be a METAPHOR for people waving good-bye to him. The term fire might also be a reference to hell [TROP].
The unique quality of the poem is that enough information isn’t provided to draw a conclusion about where, when and how he died. Merwin offers the readers his analysis of his death instead. From this point, we can see that Merwins view of death is dreary at best because to him it means a sense of emptiness.
There is a shift from the first to second stanza. In the first Merwin is talking as if he is alive, then the poem shifts. The second stanza refers to “then”, simply put when he’s no longer living.
The concept of eternity plays heavily in poem. In line 5, “Like a beam of a lightless star” symbolizes  [Allusion] eternity. In addition, Merwin portends to his opinion of death, in a rather strangely embracing way.
Merwin is unique in writing this poem because instead of pondering death he offers his intuition about death. In the concluding lines he solidifies the uncertainties of death with the statement “And bowing not knowing to what”.

No comments:

Post a Comment