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Sample Analysis of a Poem Essay Listen, children: Your father is dead. From his old coats Ill make you little jackets; Ill make you little trousers From his old pants. Therell be in his pockets Things he used to put there, Keys and pennies Covered with tobacco; Dan shall have the pennies To save in his bank; Anne shall have the keys To make a pretty noise with. Life must go on, And the dead be forgotten; Life must go on, Though good men die; Anne, eat your breakfast; Dan, take your medicine; Life must go on; I forget just why. Source: â€Å"Second April by Edna St. Vincent Millay.† Poet’s Corner. 2003. 25 Apr. 2007 http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/millay01.html In Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem â€Å"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 father’s death in no euphemistic terms as their mother tells them, â€Å"Listen, children: Your father is dead.† Rather than immediately becoming emotional, she focuses on the practical needs of her children, telling them that she’ll make them pants and jackets from his old clothing. She says, â€Å"Life must go on,† and â€Å"the dead must be forgotten,† stoically facing a bleak future. The poem’s only overt emotional reference comes when the speaker repeats, â€Å"Life must go on,† and adds, â€Å"I forget just why.† This last line is a clear indication of the hopelessness and emptiness that the speaker feels now that her loved 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 â€Å"Listen, children:† 2. Repetition: the speaker’s frequent statement that â€Å"Life must go on† emphasizes the cruelty of death for the living; daily life continues despite the absence of those we love.