Death and Mortality

Where it surfaces

• The Color Sergeant

  The poem focuses on the soldier's dying moments, his wounds, and his final act of presenting arms to his Maker, emphasizing the dignity of death in service.

• Brothers

  The graphic depiction of the lynching, from the shrieks to the division of the corpse, centers on the physical and spiritual death of the victim.

• Fragment

  The imagery of a 'wedge' that 'lies cankering in the wound' evokes the persistent, death-like decay of unresolved historical sin.

• The White Witch

  The encounter with the witch results in the ebbing of the soul and a living death.

• Mother Night

  The speaker welcomes death as a peaceful return to the primordial darkness, contrasting with the 'feverish light' of life.

• The Young Warrior

  The mother's potential fears and the warrior's preparation for battle evoke themes of mortality and the acceptance of risk.

• The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face

  The speaker's grief and the final line 'since she is gone' directly confront the reality of death and loss.

• From the Spanish

  The passage of twenty years and the mutual shock at each other's aged appearance highlight the inevitability of physical decline and mortality.

• I Hear the Stars Still Singing

  The poem mourns a lost voice, emphasizing the finality of death and the enduring pain of absence.

• Girl of Fifteen

  The contrast between the girl's fifteen years and the speaker's forty summers and winters highlights the passage of time and the awareness of aging and mortality.

• The Suicide

  The poem centers on the choice of death as a means of escape and resistance against a lifetime of oppression.

• Ghosts of the Old Year

  The death of the old year is personified, and the bell's tolling brings a sense of care akin to fright, emphasizing the finality of time and the mortality of human endeavors.

• The Ghost of Deacon Brown

  Deacon Brown dies from his obsessive search for his hidden gold, and his ghost continues to haunt the living.

• Omar

  The chapter contemplates life's mystery and the possibility of finding meaning, touching on existential themes.

• Voluptas

  The imagery of choking and dying underscores the mortal cost of chasing illusions.

• Life

  The poem emphasizes the brevity of life, contrasting the 'infinite sea of eternity' with the 'island speck of time' that is human existence.

• Sleep

  The poem directly compares sleep to death, suggesting death is a peaceful, endless sleep without dreams, reframing mortality as a release from suffering.

• Morning, Noon and Night

  The night brings memory's 'bitter blight' and darkness, suggesting the end of love or life itself.

• The Reward

  The speaker contemplates their own death and the legacy they will leave behind.

• 'Possum Song

  The possum's impending doom is central, with the hunter's gun and the slim chances of escape emphasizing the threat of death.

• De Little Pickaninny’s Gone to Sleep

  The poem centers on the death of a child, describing the physical signs of death (cold hands, distant light) and the quiet sorrow of the parents.

• Listen Lord

  The prayer confronts death, sin, and the grave, while yearning for peaceful rest and eventual resurrection.

• Go Down Death

  Death is personified as a gentle, obedient servant who brings Sister Caroline to heaven, reframing mortality as a peaceful transition.

• The Crucifixion

  The crucifixion vividly portrays the physical and spiritual agony of death, along with the cosmic signs that accompany Jesus's passing.

• The Judgment Day

  The chapter vividly depicts the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of souls, and the finality of death as the wicked are cast into hell.