Mary Oliver's poem "When Death Comes" conveys a theme of courage through living fully and without fear of death. She uses similes to compare death to common things to limit its power over people. Her word choices like repetitive use of "and" encourage continuously striving to experience more in life. Overall, the poem urges readers to live and die courageously, having made the most of their time on Earth.
Mary Oliver's poem "When Death Comes" conveys a theme of courage through living fully and without fear of death. She uses similes to compare death to common things to limit its power over people. Her word choices like repetitive use of "and" encourage continuously striving to experience more in life. Overall, the poem urges readers to live and die courageously, having made the most of their time on Earth.
Mary Oliver's poem "When Death Comes" conveys a theme of courage through living fully and without fear of death. She uses similes to compare death to common things to limit its power over people. Her word choices like repetitive use of "and" encourage continuously striving to experience more in life. Overall, the poem urges readers to live and die courageously, having made the most of their time on Earth.
Mary Oliver's poem "When Death Comes" conveys a theme of courage through living fully and without fear of death. She uses similes to compare death to common things to limit its power over people. Her word choices like repetitive use of "and" encourage continuously striving to experience more in life. Overall, the poem urges readers to live and die courageously, having made the most of their time on Earth.
“When Death Comes” by Mary Oliver is a poem about living. It is a poem about going
towards death with confirmation that an individual has done all that life has to offer and that their
life was something real. Mary Oliver wants people to die while leaving a mark on the world, she Commented [JG1]: I get what you are saying, but read this literally…. wants her readers to live courageously. In Mary Oliver’s poem “When Death Comes,” Mary Commented [JG2]: Yes!
Oliver establishes a theme of courage through her use of similes, diction, and allusion.
Mary Oliver uses similes throughout her poem of “When Death Comes” to establish a
theme of courage. In the first two stanzas, she compares death to living things when she says,
“when death comes / like the hungry bear in autumn” (1-2), and “when death comes / like the
measle-pox” (5-6). By comparing the coming of death to a bear or the measles, Mary Oliver
conveys a theme of courage by limiting death’s power over an individual and making that
individual stronger and more hopeful. Additionally, throughout the middle stanzas of the poem, Commented [JG3]: Not seeing how this evidence points to this conclusion…she’s making death scary things….yes, theme courage…but it’s not limiting the power of Mary Oliver continues to use powerful similes. She writes, “And therefore I look upon death…seems to be the opposite.
everything / as a brotherhood and a sisterhood” (11-12), and “I think of each life as a flower, as
common / as a field daisy” (15-16). By using these similes, Mary Oliver creates the idea that this
individual is coming out of their current life with courage. She conveys that this individual has
lived in the moment and has done all that life has to offer. Mary Oliver uses similes throughout
her poem of “When Death Comes” in significant and different ways, but both convey the same
theme of courage through limiting death’s power over a person and stating that a person is
leaving the world with courage. Commented [JG4]: New topic/paragraph needed Hudson Rixham February 15, 2019 D Block
Mary Oliver’s use of diction throughout her poem of “When Death Comes” conveys her
theme of courage. Towards the end of her poem, Mary Oliver uses “I” and repetitively. For
example, she says, “I want to say: all my life / I was a bride married to amazement. / I was the
bridegroom, taking the world into my arms” (21-23). This use of the first-person pronoun creates
a theme of courage as it shows that this individual is beginning to take control of his/her own Commented [JG5]: Good connections.
life. Secondly, in her 5th through 8th stanzas, she uses “and” repetitively. For instance, she writes,
“and I look upon time as no more than an idea, / and I consider eternity as another possibility”
(13-14). By starting most of her lines with “and,” she conveys the idea that there is always one
more thing you can do to live a life of positivity and happiness. The use of “and” reinforces the Commented [JG6]: Good.
theme of courage because an individual must be courageous to live without walls and to always
do one extra thing. Mary Oliver creates her main theme of courage through her poem of “When
Death Comes” through her word choice of “I” and “and” as she conveys to her readers that they
must live a life of happiness and take control of their lives.
Mary Oliver uses an allusion to establish a theme of courage in her poem. She writes,
“and each body a lion of courage, and something / precious to the earth” (19-20). This stanza
alludes to the Wizard of Oz and the lion that wished for courage, but later found out he had
always had it. Mary Oliver establishes her theme of courage through this allusion because she is
trying to convey that all people have courage, it just depends whether they choose to use it.
Through this allusion, she is tying all her examples of courage together. She states that every
person is precious on this earth (20). She is conveying that every individual must take control of Commented [JG7]: Good.
their life, limit the power that darkness has, live a life of happiness, and leave the world with Hudson Rixham February 15, 2019 D Block
courage. Through her allusion to the Wizard of Oz, Mary Oliver establishes that each person in Commented [JG8]: Not sure I buy this idea…
this world has courage in them, but they need to step up and use it.
Mary Oliver states throughout her poem “When Death Comes” that she wants her readers
to live while they can and that they should not fear death. Along with this, she uses various
poetic devices, including similes, diction, and allusion, to convey a theme of courage throughout
her poem. Her similes limited death’s power and states that each person needs to leave the world
with courage. Her word choice created an idea of an individual taking control of their own life
and constantly striving to achieve more. Finally, her allusion to the Wizard of Oz tied everything
together by learning to find courage and use it. Mary Oliver wants her readers to live with Commented [JG9]: Hmmmm…sounds good, but I’m not sure this allusion really “ties it all together” courage and to die with courage, knowing they had lived a life full of amazement and
