Ralegh, Sir Walter- Death In Poems Essays - Knights Bachelor

Ralegh, Sir Walter- Death In Poems Inbox | *Prev Next* The poems of Sir Walter Ralegh often deal with the issue of death and mortality. In some cases he directly deals with the issue, and others he uses vast metaphors in order to convey his message. For the most part, Ralegh takes a very bleak position on the issues of death and aging, but in some cases he takes a more optimistic view. Ralegh is said to have been a man who was a historian, soldier, courtier, philosopher, explorer, and of course a poet. The fact that he spent the last years of his life in a prison and was then executed for false charges of treason suggest that he knew the potential dangers of his activities and made a conscious decision to live the way he did. It is clear from his work that Ralegh did not know exactly what to think about the issue of death, and that he spent a great deal of time thinking it over. The result of this pressing question in Ralegh?s mind is a collection of poetry that covers the subject from several different perspectives. In Ralegh?s short poem ?On the life of Man?, he (as the title suggest) reflects on the meaning of human life. Ralegh makes the analogy of life being like a production on a stage. He compares the time spent in a mother?s womb to being like that of time spent in a dressing room where we prepare for what he calls a comedy. He gives no suggestion of any set structure in the comedy, but states quite clearly that heaven is watching and will be judging. He goes on to compare graves to drawn curtains. This is a very pervolant idea in American society where there is a cliche of the term ?curtains? for meaning the end or death. This particular poem is not very optimistic simply because there is nothing in it to suggest that life has any profound or special meaning which is something that people want to believe. Ralegh concludes this poem with the line: ?Only we die in earnest, that?s no jest.? From this it can be assumed that he thinks of his life a a comic time which should be enjoyed except for the end which is not funny at all. In Raliegh?s poem ?The Lie?, he also deals with the subject of mortality. The first line of this poem is ?Go, soul, the body?s guest?. It is clear that he sees the soul as a separate being from one?s physical body. In this scenario the body is simply the host of the soul, and it will leave upon the expiration of life. In this poem Ralegh is sending his soul on a mission to tell all of the people of the world that they are living a complete contradiction. He lists all kinds of things that he claims are not what they seem. There are lines like ?tell flesh it is but dust?, and ?tell nature of decay?. Basically he is commissioning his soul to go and tell the world what he feels that it needs to hear, and the soul is the perfect messenger because it can not be harmed. This is clearly his intent, and this is evident from the last four lines of the poem which read: Although to give the lie deserves no less that stabbing- Stab at thee he that will, No stab the soul can kill. This quote clearly shows the power and virtue of a soul. There are contradictions in this poem. On one hand it has a very bleak outlook on life, and suggests that humans are inherently immoral, but at the same time it touches on the sorrow and loss in the event of death. All the while the soul which is now free and untouchable is sent to be the bearer of bad tidings. This poem can be interpreted in more than one way, but there can be no doubt that Ralegh believed that death meant the soul could move on to better things which is not a pessimistic attitude. In Ralegh?s poem ?Nature, That Washed Her Hands in Milk?, he shows a much more