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Sample Analysis of a Poem EssayListen, childrenYour father is dead.From his of age(predicate) coatsIll make you little jacketsIll make you little trousersFrom his old pants.Therell be in his pocketsThings he used to put there,Keys and penniesCovered with tobaccoDan shall gain the penniesTo save in his bankAnne shall have the keysTo make a pretty noise with. deportment essential go on,And the dead be forgotten smell must go on,Though good men dieAnne, eat your breakfastDan, take your medicineLife must go onI forget just why. Source Second April by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Poets Corner. 2003. 25 Apr. 2007 http//www.theotherpages.org/poems/millay01.htmlIn Edna St. Vincent Millays poem Lament, the speaker, a mother whose husband has just passed away, must face both her grief and the continued daily needs of her children clothing, medicine, food. The children learn of their fathers death in no euphemistic terms as their mother tells them, Listen, children Your father is dead. Rath er than immediately becoming emotional, she focuses on the practical needs of her children, telling them that shell make them pants and jackets from his old clothing.She says, Life must go on, and the dead must be forgotten, stoically facing a bleak future. The poems only overt emotional reference comes when the speaker repeats, Life must go on, and adds, I forget just why. This last suck up is a clear indication of the hopelessness and emptiness that the speaker feels now that her love one is gone, a common expression of frustration with the absurdity of death. Although all individuals grieve differently, this poem represents a universal expression that life must go on even when we feel like it cannot.Poetic Devices 1. Apostrophe the poem is a direct address from mother to children, as evidenced by the first line Listen, children 2. Repetition the speakers frequent statement that Life must go on emphasizes the cruelty of death for the living daily life continues despite the absen ce of those we love.