The+Death+of+Aunt+Alice

=The Poem:=

Aunt Alice's funeral was orderly, each mourner correct, dressed in decent black, not one balding relative beserk with an axe. Poor Alice, where's your opera-ending? For alive you relished high catastrophe, your bible Page One of a newspaper.

You talked of typhoid when we sat to eat; Fords on the M4, mangled, upside down, just when we were going for a spin; and, at London airport, as you waved us off, how you fatigued us with 'metal fatigue' , vague shapes of Boeings bubbling under seas.

Such disguises and such transformations! Even trees were but factories for coffins, rose bushes decoys to rip boys' eyes with thorns. Sparrows became vampires, spiders had designs, and your friends also grew SPECTACULAR, none to bore you by dying naturally.

A. had both kidneys removed in error at Guy's. 'And such a clever surgeon too.' B., one night, fell screaming down a liftshaft. 'Poor fellow, he never had a head for heights.' C., so witty, so feminine, 'Pitty //she// ended up in a concrete-mixer.

But now, never again, Alice, will you utter gory admonitions as some do oaths. Disasters that lit your eyes will no more unless, trembling up there, pale saints listen to details of their bloody matrydoms, all their tall stories, your eternity.

Notes:

//Beserk//- Furiously vioent //Catastrophe-// A calamity, an event of misfortune //Typhoid//- Fatal disease when Bacteria enters the body while eating or drinking //M4-// A Motorway which links London to Wales //Mangled-// Disfigured, spoiled //Fatigued//- Tired //Vague//- Undefined //Boeings//- Planes of a type //Decoys//- Things or items used to conceal something //Liftshaft//- An elevator //Gory//- Bloodstained //Admonitions//- Harsh disaprovals, rebukes //Trembling-// Shaking //Pale//- Fearful //Tall-// Pompous //Eternity//- Timeless Existance

=The Analysis:=


 * Description (What Happens):**

The poem tells the tale of the deceased Aunt Alice, and how she did peculiar and odd acts in her lifetime, ultimately resulting into her death. Moreover, the poem also clarifies how many things used by us in our daily lives are but paths to death, such as Cars, Aeroplanes and Flowers. The poem concentrates on the paths to death and how they are all around us, but also (whilst using sarcasm) how sometimes these can be quite odd, strange and funny- such as in the 4th Paragraph. Overall, this poem is about the most things in life are waiting to pounce on us and kill us, in the many forms they may occupy- i.e Boeing Planes and how there are other ways to die, some of which are funny and odd-i.e falling down a lift.


 * Themes:**

The Theme of this poem is death and the many paths to it, but the usage of Sarcasm and the touch of Humour is also important when considering the themes of this poem


 * Langauge (Effect on Reader):**

Abse utilised an assortment of words in a well-considered style, to both introduce sarcasm and to further push this message across of death. Words such as "Spectacular" and "Fords" are most notably used for their easiness and commoness, and so as to further enforce the message. Overall, the language used gives of a casual effect on the reader, and makes the poem seem casual-despite the theme of death.


 * Imagery (Similies/Metaphors/Personification):**

There are many, many images given off in the poem; from Fords to Concrete-Mixers: much imagery is created by Abse. Moreover, most (if not all) important events are accompanied with an adjective so as to give further depth to them, like "pale saints" and "tall stories".


 * Sound (Rhythm):**

There is no rhyme scheme in this poem, all throughout out- such is the same for any deliberate sound effect; which is also non-existant.


 * Structure (Form):**

The Poem is around the place- scruffy at times. While it does follow a strict 6 Line a Stanza rule, sometimes Stanzas are sub-headed as points and sometimes words are capitalised (i.e "SPECTACULAR"), whereas others are followed by a random exclamation mark. There are 5 of these Stanzas, all of which are similar in length.


 * Tone (Narrator):**

The tone of the poem is somewhat casual, with notes of sarcasm to battle out the underlying theme of death and the many ways in which it looms over us. Moreover, it seems that someone who knew this "Aunt Alice" and was present at the Funeral is telling the story, one who knew much about her and her wish of an "opera-ending". The sarcasm in the poem accounts for the casual tone, and may itself be an indication of another path to death.

By: Nafees and Ahmed