Poetry · Character

Death

The personification of death, appearing as a figure in poems.

minor

Also known as the Lord of Death

First appearance: the house of judgment

Death shows up with force in Θρηνῳδία. The page is where that presence becomes real.

Personified as the Lover and Lord, the final solace for the captive women.

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In Θρηνῳδία: Personified as the Lover and Lord, the final solace for the captive women. Later, in Άντιστροφή Β: Addressed as 'Lover and…

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Character Web

5 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Classical and Literary Archetypes
Religious and Mythological Personifications

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point

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In the story

Death appears across 16 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Θρηνῳδία
Personified as the Lover and Lord, the final solace for the captive women.
Άντιστροφή Β
Addressed as 'Lover and Lord' in the final lines, representing the speaker's embrace of mortality.
A Fragment from the Agamemnon of Aeschylos
Personified as the healer of all earthly pain, close at hand for Cassandra.
Sen Artysty
Referenced indirectly through the crown of thorns and the painful awakening.
Eleutheria
Referenced in 'Ave Imperatrix' as the Lord of Death and in the imagery of fallen soldiers.
Ave Imperatrix
Implored to give up the dead soldiers from foreign graves.
Louis Napoleon
The 'Lord of Death' is invoked as the soul descends to tell the mighty Sire.
Requiescat
The poem centers on the death of a young woman, now at rest.
The New Helen
Mentioned in 'the lotus-leaves which heal the wounds of Death,' symbolizing mortality and its relief.
Chanson
Referenced through imagery of the hempen rope, narrow bed, cypress, rue, and lilies at the head.
The Dole of the King’s Daughter
Present through the slain knight, dead page, and the ravens feasting on the dead.
The Fourth Movement
Mentioned in 'At Verona' as a preferable fate to exile, and in 'Taedium Vitae' as a contrast to worldly strife.
Flower of Love
Described as the silent pilot who comes at last after the storm of youth.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Personified as the 'Lord of Death' who enters the prison to claim the condemned man.
III
Death is personified as the 'Lord of Death' who enters the prison to claim the executed prisoner, described with icy breath and a rope of shame.
V
Referenced as 'living Death' that chokes the prison with fetid breath, and as the Lord of Death waiting for holy hands.

Chapter companion notes

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See Death in the house of judgment

See Death in Θρηνῳδία