This is an interesting device because it indicates the author was looking at every aspect of the poem and thought long and hard about how to use words to convey meaning, emotion, and loss. In contrast, Parks does not worry about rhyme; he simply uses meter and the rhythm of the words to convey meaning and emotion. Millay speaks about her mother throughout the poem, but Parks only uses three lines to show his father has passed away. Millay openly admires her mother, while it seems there was tension underneath the surface between Parks and his father. He seems to be watching events from the outside looking in, giving the illusion of emotional detachment, while Millay is clearly distraught and overcome by the loss of her mother. By using personification indirectly, Parks likens his father to a giant, while Millay prefers to instead concentrate on her mother's mental qualities and strengths. By looking at the many poetic devices in these two poems, it becomes clear that each poet can use the same device very differently to create memorable and vastly differing poems.

Parks also exaggerates the "weight" of his giant of a father, noting it took one hundred men to carry his casket. Of course this is figurative, he could not have possibly weighed that much, but Parks uses this analogy to get the message across, that he will never live up to the giant that was his father. Both of these poets show their love for their parents, but also show how much they admired them and may even have been afraid of them. Millay admires her mother's courage, while Parks admired the "hugeness" that was his father, implying that everything about him was large, impressive, and even intimidating. Parks does not use as much emotion as Millay, and yet, it is clear that he is...

He implies the hills will keep on shrinking and childhood memories will continue to be overcome with adult realties.
In conclusion, these poems show the hard reality of death. By using poetic literary devices such as simile, metaphor, and figurative language, they illustrate the pain, the love, and the memories that overshadow losing a loved one. They also show that writing about the death of a loved one can provide release and insight into the relationship and the loss. Without these rich literary devices, the words would be empty and so would the memories. In addition, they show that using the same literary devices about the same subject can result in vastly different poems. Millay's gives her open admiration to her mother, while Parks' seems to have many deeper, buried emotions that do not fully surface in the poem. Just as death affects everyone differently, poetry and its creation is a very personal process, as these two poems clearly indicate.

References

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. "The Courage That my Mother Had."

Parks, Gordon. "The Funeral."