This poem is also about someone close to the poet who has passed, but instead of juxtaposing presence and absence as Levine did, Amichai instead contrasts terror and joy, youth and death, and violence and peace.
The first opposition is built in the first stanza, where the poet points out the reversal of age and wisdom brought about by Dicky's early death. Before he died, Dicky was "four years older [and]…like a father" (3) to the poet. But Amichai has continued past Dicky into old age, and now he is "[the] father, old and grieving" (6).
The contrasts become more concrete as the poem progresses. The third stanza sets "the departure to terrible battles" (11) against the light, bright imagery of "gardens and windows / and children playing" (12-13). The tension established by this image of soldiers marching through blossoms and children's playgrounds sets the reader up for the more sophisticated contrasts and philosophical implications of the conclusion of the poem.
The final stanza is essentially a series of opposing images,...
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Poetry is often used to express emotion at its most romantic and infatuated, but sometimes it is used to describe the pillars of life behind that romance -- the sexuality, insecurity, devotion, and fidelity. Dorianne Laux, Anne Bradstreet, and Barbara Greenberg explore their very different relationships through poetry, examining this causal underpinnings through poetry. Using careful word choice, expressive imagery, and specific audience, each poet expertly wields her tool to
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