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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Elegy for my Father, Who is not Dead

On the surface, it seems as if, the speaker juxtaposes his father's will to die and his will to live. It is fair to say that his father wants to die, but he wants his son to be ready to die with him. I believe that by "embarking" on this trip his father does not mean a literal death, but the willingness to let him go. In a deeper meaning, I feel this poem contrasts the differences in their beliefs of eternal life. This is proven through the excerpt " I see myself on deck, convinced/ I'll see him standing on the dock/ and waving, shouting, Welcome back." Which basically means the speaker means he'll just die and nothing will happen, while the father believes he'll be waiting for his son in heaven. Although the father's tone is optimistic-it is the speaker's pessimistic tone that sets the complete tone for the poem. The father had faith from the beginning "He's ready./ In the sureness of his faith" the speaker says. Ultimately, it's a matter of the speaker accepting or not accepting his father's word.

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