Do not stand at my grave and weep

Poetry Analyze -
Do not stand at my grave and weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.

This poem has an end rhyme between every two sentences. The poem is end-stopped. It uses metaphor through out the whole poem. It is written as first person, as she is the person passed away telling the people alive not be cry.

Some says this poem is written for a friend's child when her friend died, but this theory has not been confirmed. First is describes the death using grave as the symbol, and using weeping to symbol the sadness. It tells people that she is not there as an introduction and a hook by making people think she is not died. It then describes how she is a part of the nature. In the middle 'Of beautiful birds in circling flight,' gives a short rest from the 'I am...' and continues on. At the end, 'I am in each lovely thing' summarizes all the descriptions of she as a part of nature. And it repeats again the introduction 'Do not stand at my grave and cry', and then give the resolution,answer or explanation to the introduction. 'I am not there. I do not die' answers why she isn't there, because she does not die, she become a part of the nature around people alive, where her spirit lives on.

The Book of Lost Things

 

It is really hard for me to tell which is my favorite genre or book, I read a great range of books, if say only English literature, I read quite a bit of drama and fantasy. I think even I read drama a bit more, I’ll say my favorite genre is fantasy. Some of my favorites in this genre are ‘ The Changeover’ by Margaret Mahy, ‘The Never Ending Story’ by Michael Ende,  ‘ The Stolen Child’ by Keith Donohue, ‘Ink heart’ by Cornelia Funke (Germen).

My favorite book in this genre is ‘ The Book of Lost Things’ by John Connolly. The setting is in England. There a boy, David, lost his dearest mother and his father decide to remarry. And following up with a new born brother, who takes all the attentions from his parents. David is jealous and lost. And at the point, he hears his mother’s voice from somewhere, and he follows the voice through a tree whole into the world of lost things to find his mother. On the journey, David slowly realize that his mother is not coming back.

The journey leads him to the king, where he discover the king is his uncle who had disappeared with his sister. A evil soul told him to sacrifice his sister and he would become the king, and he did so. So his sister’s heart is eaten by the evil soul and the king himself fell into regret. The book which is said to be magical turns out to be the king’s own diary. And now the soul needs a new life, it wants David to sacrifice his brother’s life. But David has seen what happened to the old king and he understood it has to ended.

At the end, he lives withstand the lost of the life and comes back to the lost world at the end of his life. ‘ For a man’s lifetime was but a moment in that place, and every man dreams his own heaven. And, in the darkness, David closed his eyes as all that was lost was found again.’ The great ending is the best of story.

John Connolly. The book of lost things. Taipei: Rye Field Publications,2007.

• Genre: Fantasy
• Source: Bookshop
• Rating: 5
• Read: Whole book

Maus

The setting of the story Maus is in Poland during the second world war. The story is told by an American born Jew interviewing his father, who is a survivor. The story starts before the war and ends with his father found his mother after the war. The story has shown in the extreme conditions, how the strongest people survives.

The medium of graphic novel gives the story layers of expression. The images and the narrative could go at the same time. And the  design of the characters can also shows another aspect. This medium gives  the author many ways of expressing.

Art Spiegelman. Naus. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.

• Genre: Graphic novel
• Source: Senior library
• Rating: 5
• Read: Whole