Explicaiton 1

Dying is Fine(But Death)

The poem puts a negative and positive spin on death. Contradicting and putting the 2 themes it brings up in juxtapose. Part of it especially the beginning(since there really aren't any stanzas), show death to be a "miraculous" and "mildly lively" event in ones life. While at the end, death is described as gruesome as a sin. The speaker, presumably the author speaks to an open audience. The poem being more of an expression of two clashing ideas. The speaker is constantly asking questions to an unknown(audience/reader), shortly expressing his views on the question at hand. The structure of the poem is odd. With no obvious rhyme scheme the poem carries on its conflicting message.
The poem from the get go, sets up an informal atmosphere, implying or at least carrying the idea of no specific audience. The use of parentheses in the poem to set up another thought, continually contributing to the relaxed and non serious approach to a serious subject matter. Seemingly addressing two separate things, death and dying, the speaker shows the two related(and quite honestly the same) subject matter in a contrasting way. Dying is natural and miraculous, consisting of magical and enthralling qualities. Death on the other hand is evil and scientific, with no room for enjoyment. These opposing ideas can be found to be partly ironic, while dying may not be the worst thing to happen you what comes after, would be(death). The poem in its conclusion, ends in a peculiar way, the speaker thanks god for giving us the sin of death. It is at that point, where the speaker moves away from his light and impersonal tone to something more somber and contemplative.

Poetry List

"For Annie"- Edgar Allen Poe
"Dying is Fine(But Death)"- E.E. Cummings
"The Grave and The Rose"- Victor Hugo
" A Death Bed"- Rudyard Kipling
"The Dead"- Sylvia Plath
"Thinking of a Friend At Night"- Hermann Hesse
"Blight"- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Death"- William Butler Yeats
“The Ghost”- Charles Baudelaire
“Ghost House”- Robert Frost