Regarding rhyme... look at lines 2 and 4 in each stanza.
Yes, the poem is definitely about the "seasons of life" and about the inevitability of death.
Yes, she is saying that even though life is finite, the world goes on.
Many people belief that death is only the next "season" or "page" in life. Anonymous, I would take to mean that she does not know what the next season/page will be or what her relationship with it will be. This is a very interesting poem.
A poem by Linda pasta can be found here:
"w w w. theatlantic . c o m / doc/200708 / linda-pastan-ash" (withoutspaces)
I was wondering if my analysis of this poem is correct.
This poem is about death. When you're cremated you are transformed from a body into ashes, which is what the title suggest. It also centers on the passing of time because of the seasons mentioned in the poem. The leaves represent fall. Snow = winter. Do the weeds represent the burdens of life? "the moon goes on relentless in the sky" means that life moves on even after someone dies. The last stanza confuses me. Is the speaker waiting for death when she says "I wait." And does "Anonymous, I turn the page" mean that she is translating into a new stage in life? Is the poem unrhymed?
2 answers
www.theatlantic.com/doc/200708/linda-pastan-ash
ASH
We fall like leaves,
anonymous as snow,
like ash, like weeds
under some farmer’s .
We fear the dark
and watch the light recede.
We know death smiles
on every child conceived.
The moon goes on,
relentless in the sky;
in cold complicity,
the stars comply.
Remember me.
(How did it grow so late?)
Anonymous,
I turn the page. I wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think you're right for the most part. Try to form a central image in your mind for each stanza. Then you'll know if your interpretation is accurate. And remember that you may "see" the ideas in this poem differently from other people. Don't worry about that.
I think you're right about that last stanza, too. Yes, waiting.
Rhyme -- yes -- the even-numbered lines rhyme (or come very, very close):
snow
recede
conceived (not exact, but close)
sky
comply
late
wait
How to characterize that rhyme scheme?
abcb defe ghih jklk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme_scheme
ASH
We fall like leaves,
anonymous as snow,
like ash, like weeds
under some farmer’s .
We fear the dark
and watch the light recede.
We know death smiles
on every child conceived.
The moon goes on,
relentless in the sky;
in cold complicity,
the stars comply.
Remember me.
(How did it grow so late?)
Anonymous,
I turn the page. I wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think you're right for the most part. Try to form a central image in your mind for each stanza. Then you'll know if your interpretation is accurate. And remember that you may "see" the ideas in this poem differently from other people. Don't worry about that.
I think you're right about that last stanza, too. Yes, waiting.
Rhyme -- yes -- the even-numbered lines rhyme (or come very, very close):
snow
recede
conceived (not exact, but close)
sky
comply
late
wait
How to characterize that rhyme scheme?
abcb defe ghih jklk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme_scheme
1 answer