pg. 1414-1415 #’s 1 and 3
When Death Comes
Mary Oliver
When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full or curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therfore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
1. This poem turns on a series of images. Describe each image associated with approaching death, evaluating its effectiveness and appropriateness.
Within this poem, the use of images help to create for the audience a deeper understanding of the point the author is trying to convey about death. Throughout these images, the author, Mary Oliver, is attempting to show the value of life, making it more a collection of experiences, not just a “visitation”. Within the opening lines, death is compared to “a hungry bear in autumn” and a customer taking “all the bright coins from his purse to buy me”. These two images are different entirely from each other, yet they both relate in association with death. Death is ravaging, like the bear, but also pays the high price to take a life. Life is a valuable thing, and by making this association with a purchase, Oliver is showing that there is a price to pay when taking life. Oliver continues by describing death’s approach as “an iceberg between the shoulder blades”. Icebergs are, obviously, cold, and to have this feeling of an iceberg between the shoulder blades would indicate that death is surprising and shocking, and it overwhelms. This approaching death, therefore, is shocking and surprising, making the image of the iceberg all the more relevant. Oliver uses one last image to describe death itself, as a “cottage of darkness”. The speaker wants to “step through the door full of curiosity” to this “cottage of darkness”. No one really knows what death is like, but the author wants to convey that when death does make it approach, there should be an embrace and wonder, not out of fear, but instead curiosity. All these images work together to show the multi-faceted aspects of death. There is no singular way to view death, but instead it should be a collection of feelings and ideas, from the “hungry bear in autumn” to the “cottage of darkness”.
3. What images are associated with life and experience? Are they effective? Explain.
Within the poem, Oliver uses many images to describe both death and life. While death takes on a role of surprise and finalization, Oliver makes reference to also life and experience. She describes the experience of life as “a brotherhood and a sisterhood”, as time being “no more than an idea”, and “eternity as another possibility”. All these imagse evoke this sense of satisfaction, and seizing the moments in life that really matter. The author uses these images to create exactly this. “Life as a flower…each name a comfortable music in the mouth” shows that the author wants to savor the moment and bring to life the moments that really matter, to value the things that really matter. Towards the end, the speaker is shown as saying “When it’s over, I want to say: all my life/I was a bride married to amazement./I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.” This is the defining point where the author ultimately conveys the point that life should be an amazing journey, cherished and embraced for all the wonderful and magnificent aspects it holds. These images prove to be effective in proving this point because they bring out these thoughts and feelings toward the poem.
