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What Is The Mood Of The Poem 'Marsh'?

Decent Essays

The speaker’s son tells her that he saw trees flowering with white flowers at the edge of the woods. He tells his mother this because he wants her to realize that there is life beyond her husband’s death so that she can move on and find happiness. The “yard” (1) is the grass outside of her home which represents the life she shared with her now deceased husband. However, the “meadows” (21) symbolizes this idea of a new life separate from the one that she had with her husband, almost like a new beginning. Next, there is the contrast between the “woods” (22) and “marsh” (28); the “heavy woods” (22) symbolizes the heaviness she feels as a result of the weight of her grief. On the other hand, the “marsh” that she wants to sink into represents death …show more content…

She compares the new grass that is sprouting to flames of fire and there is a visual of the grass flickering just as flames do. There is almost an ominous feel as if the grass is under attack, just as her heart is from grief. The imagery of the flames also relate to symbols of romantic desire that she feels for her dead husband. The imagery describes in line 2-3 are very vivid and lively in comparison to lines 13-14, where the imagery is generalized and flat. She describes the flowers by just naming the colours like yellow and red and lacks specificity when she says “some bushes” (13). After such beautiful imagery there is little image-making vividness, it is easy to tell that the widow lacks interest in what formally gave her joy and excitement because of her grief. I believe that the masses the widow is referring to is not quantity but instead size as in heaviness, massive etc. and this relates to her grief- as I stated before, the heaviness of her grief. From this we can conclude that the speaker’s emotional condition is dazed and dull. It is as if she cannot appreciate the beauty surrounding springtime anymore because she is so focused on her grief regarding the death of her

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