COTD ec: Poems

1) An Elegy upon the Death of the Dean of St. Paul's, Dr. John
Carew, Thomas. "Thomas Carew Poems." Famous Poets and Poems. famouspoetsandpoems.com, 2010. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/thomas_carew/poems/6057.html>.

In this poem, Carew narrates the services of the deceased in a language and style most people today would find confusing, however, when looked carefully at, the style of burial doesn't terrible challenge the 'traditional' one we've been learning about in school. This includes the expected reactions from the attendees; in the first verse, the people attending the suggested mass are somber without a clear thought of their own. As the poem continues on, they fall into synch of murmuring prayers and songs that even Carew refers to as the "untun'd verse". When an instrument is tuned, it requires careful thought and listening to gain exactly what the musician desires.
 

2) When I am Dead, My Dearest
Rossetti, Christina. "Poems on Death, Dying and Grief." Allspirit. Khunu Rinpoche Tricycle, 1999. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://allspirit.co.uk/dying.html#dearest>. 

Rossetti's poem is styled as a letter stating their requests of what they would like to be done after burial - absolutely nothing. The sense of crushing depression often affiliated with death isn't present at all, something rarely seen nowadays when death and funerals are brought up.


3) A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London
Thomas, Dylan. "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London." Poets From the Academy of American Poets. Academy of American Poets, 1971. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15381>.

Thomas' poem narrates a child watching the cremation of the mother, following with the scattering of the ashes at sea. Not only does burial service 'challenge' the traditional one we've learned about in school but it also combines two of the alternatives - a sea burial and cremation, both of which my assigned reading has quotations of children saying helped bring them closure in their parents death.

4) For the Union Dead
Lowell, Robert. "For the Union Dead." Poets From the Academy of American Poets. Academy of American Poets, 1964. Web. 17 May 2011. 

Starting with a description of an aquarium for perhaps a comparison for the quality in which the dead were handled with during the same era that started the embalming trend still seen today, Lowell doesn't give us the standard burial we expect this time period to have produced from what we have been told. Instead, he writes of the (mass?) burials on battlefields, integrated cemeteries that led to the usage of embalming and falls back to the smell of rotting fish.


5) Kaddish, Part I
Ginsberg, Allen. "Kaddish, Part I." Poets From the Academy of American Poets. Academy of American Poets, 1984. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15307>.

In this poem, Allen indirectly addresses a part of care of the dead more relative towards my final project for the unit - caring for them past the actual point of burial. Here,  after or on the way to visiting his mother's grave, he stops and thinks of all of stories about her that he knows, obviously still considering her a valuable piece of the family. He has not locked her away - mind, memory and body - in a grave some place away but mentally cares for her by remembering.

6) Funeral Blues
Auden, Wystan Hugh . "Funeral Blues (Song IX / from Two Songs for Hedli Anderson)." Poetry Anthology. Unknown, 2005. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.wussu.com/poems/whafb.htm>.

Auden's poem gives a description of the foundation for the procession towards the cemetery/crematory; preparing for the procession. The time of mourning when the world seems to halt around you, if not for you, and even police escorts are available.

7) A Burial
Wilcox, Ella. "A Burial - a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox ." Poetry Online. poetryonline.org.uk, 01 NOV 2003. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.poetry-online.org/wheeler_wilcox_a_burial.htm>.

Another alternative to the popular funeral services available in the country is that of a home funeral seen in Wilcox's poem that follows a widow reflecting on their now lost used. However, contrary to what the material we've been given has told us, the deep meaningful experience doesn't seem to be found as the sense of closure isn't apparent either, in fact, the widowed woman finds herself suicidal in the end.


8) Battle Hymn of the Republic
Howe, Julia. "Battle Hymn of the Republic a poem by Julia Ward Howe ." Poetry Online. poetryonline.org.uk, 01 NOV 2003. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.poetry-online.org/wheeler_wilcox_a_burial.htmhttp://www.poetry-online.org/howe_battle_hymn_of_the_republic_war_ins_christ_rel.htm>.

We've all heard Howe's poem sung before, even in passing. In this, the presence of Church and God in the services and passing of the dead seem like requirement for the dead to have truly been cared for. By the implied repetition of the world continuing on without the deceased, it can also be implied that the care for the dead should halt at the point of burial

9) An Ode, On the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell
Dryden, John. "An Ode, On the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell a poem by John Dryden." Poetry Online. poetryonline.org.uk, 01 NOV 2003. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.poetry-online.org/dryden_an_ode_death_henry_purcell.htm>.


In the very first verse, Dryden gives a new addition to either  a standard or alternative burial method and service: a memorial party. "They cease their mutual spite / Drink in her Music with delight." Here, he presents the idea that death does not have to be tragic but can bring us together - an idea similar to that found in funerals in Ghana.


10) A Special Mom
Osman, Kelly. "A Special Mom." Family Friend Poems. Kelley D. Osman , 08 Sep 2004. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/death/poetry.asp?poem=2320>.

Mostly an ode and reflection on the mother, Osman's poem brings about another aspect of care of the dead that isn't always considered caring for the dead: remembering them and embracing those memories during daily life. Additionally, mentions of a burial among other family members is addressed and additional family cemetery plots are also addressed. It doesn't challenge the idea of the popular funeral/burial services we've studied but instead expanded on them.

11) Remember Me
Higgginbotham, Amanda. "Remember Me." Family Friend Poems. Kelley D. Osman , 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/death/poetry.asp?poem=421>.

Hidden under the author's desire not to have to let go of their cousin and to their believe, return them to God, a wake or Church service in which the body is on display is what a reader can observe here. This presumably Christian or Christian-esque funeral is almost exactly what one would expect to see when observing the average funeral today in America. While it doesn't challenge the dominant discourse, it brings up another possible aspect to look at: is the involvement of a religious figure or establishment required to put the dead at rest?


12) Life Without Daddy
"Life Without Daddy." Family Friend Poems. Sara, 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/death/poetry.asp?poem=18937>.

Though coping with the death itself is a large aspect of the poem, it addresses several points we learned about in this unit. Firstly, the burial - the child's confusion in why is their father getting put in the ground. It takes them years to understand that their father is dead, something that "A Family Undertaking" argues is why home burials should be pushed for. There is no sudden absence of the loved one, the family can (supposedly) truly have time to come to terms with it all.

13) Just Baby Sitting
Denvir , Savannah. "Just Baby Sitting." Family Friend Poems. Savannah Denvir , 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/death/poetry.asp?poem=19145>.

The spiritual aspect of the care of the dead, for once, not put in the hands of the family put in the God that the family believes in. In Denvir's poem, she writes the requests the exact care of her young son she would like to see, all the tenderness she desires for him


14) Lowering Your Coffin
Park, Rachel. "Lowering Your Coffin." Family Friend Poems. Savannah Denvir , 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/death/poetry.asp?poem=24232>.

Not challenging to the social norms we've learned about in the least but worth noting all the same because of the questions it raises: should we have anything emotionally to do with the care of the dead? Should we do or not do something to provide ourselves with more closure rather than go along with what they intended or we know they would have preferred?

15) Alzheimer's


Underwood, Dick. "Alzheimer's ." Funeral Poems: Funeral poem and eulogy resources. Funeral Poems, 2010. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.funeral-poems.net/funeral-poem/alzheimers>.

Though it has nothing directly to do with handling the dead, no alternatives to 'traditional' burials, I would argue that Underwood's poem definitely revolves around care of the dead. It's written to describe the degradation of the body and life when someone suffers from Alzheimer's and is meant to be read aloud at whatever service the family has if that was the cause of death for the deceased. It's significant and relevant because I've noticed that what families try to do is do whatever a service they feel the person would have liked the best. Would someone died from an illness really have wanted it mentioned at all? Would they have wanted it mentioned in this way but not as it having killed them?