Author Question: To whom does the they in this poem refer? What will be an ideal ... (Read 115 times)

jace · **on:** Jul 20, 2018

To whom does the they in this poem refer?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Read the poem aloud, pausing slightly at the line endings. What is therhythmic effect of the run-on lines?

What will be an ideal response?

Mochi · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

One would probably assume from the title that the they of the poem are the dead, an assumption that the first line might perhaps reinforce. Further reinforcement is provided by line 3, with its reference to where they last slept. By the time one comes to lines 34 and reads where they stepped / Out of the world, that assumption is likely to have become a certainty.

Answer to Question 2

Since every line break demands a pause, however slight, the effect of the run-ons is to create an element of suspense: as the line endings cut off so many of the poems statements at a crucial point, we are constantly wondering, even if only for a fraction of a second, how each of them will be completed. Lets undervalue and unmend what? Why cant we pretend what? Lets exhume, resume, and extend what? And so on. These breaks heighten our curiosity about the answers, and drive those answers home more effectively when they arrive.