Response to the View of Mortality
QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWER:
After you have read Szymborska’s “On Death without Exaggeration” and Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud,” write a onetwo paragraph response in which you discuss which poem best reflects your own view of mortality. Be sure to quote at least one line from one poem in your response. Please respond to at least one other student post .
1.On death : https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1996/ szymborska/25578-poetry-1996-12/ 2.Death be : https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44107/ holy-sonnets-death-be-not-proud Reply to the student response: After reading both poems, I felt that I could resonate more with “On Death, without Exaggeration”. It described morality as something that is inevitable, yet, it is something we simply cannot prepare enough for. As for humans, nothing is promised aside from death. This poem depicts that notion really well I believe. It describes that as much as we may plan for events in our life, death will always have the final say. The second stanza says, “In our planning for tomorrow, / it has the final word, / which is always beside the point.” (Szymborska). Along with death being a controlling factor in everyone’s lives, the poem does note that it can be avoided. Despite it having such reigning power, “sometimes it isn’t strong enough / to swat a fly from the air”, and people can continue their lives (Szymborska). I don’t live my every day thinking about how death controls me, nor do I think of the moment that one can die, which is simply what this poem depicts. But, the one thing I do take away from this is to live every day knowing that you may not have a tomorrow, so it is best to make good out of what you have at the moment.
