And You As Well Must Die Beloved Dust Analysis

Many people fear death at the back of their mind, unconsciously dwelling over the surreal fact that they would have to come face to face with it some day, yet most do not bring themselves to explore it completely until it lurks in the corner or appears on their doorstep. The sonnet “And You as Well Must Die, Beloved Dust” and the dramatic monologue “Identification”, explores the concept of death and how each writer comes to grips with it. Both poems express reactions to the inevitable nature of death and the process of how one digests such a foreign, yet present occurrence. “Identification” is written by a wife who receives the news of her husband’s death and impulsively reasons as to why he simply could not have died. “And You as Well Must …show more content…
It uses day-to-day practices with movements easy for her to fall into, to manage the daunting idea of death that she is incapable of handling. While the repetition of everyday tasks implies her stubborn denial of her husband’s death, it also is the way she tries to process it. After arguing against the news, she says “I’ll put the kettle on for tea/I’ll wash my hair, then what,/ try to wake up from all this.” She clings onto the activities in her daily routine in an attempt to stay calm, taking advantage of the everyday actions which provide her with comfort and sanity. While doing this, she appeals to reduce the possibility into a dream, believing she will ‘wake up’. At the end of she says “I’ll put the Thursday on, wash the tea,/ since our names are completely ordinary,” although said out loud, this could be her attempt to try and make herself believe what she wants to. The natural executions of her day will continue because it simply, could not be true that her husband had died. Her insistent repetition of natural, everyday tasks show one escapes the intimating and foreign concept of death by seeking out the …show more content…
While “Identification” presents the direct struggle of processing death through a strong persona and repetition to emphasise the denial, the writer of “And You as Well Must Die, Beloved Dust” uses the comparison of beauty and love’s power to death’s to show his acceptance towards death after a long time. They both use natural imagery to comprehend death. “Identification” uses it as a familiar tool in resistance to uncomfortable death while “And You as Well Must Die, Beloved Dust” uses it to emphasis that death is just another natural occurrence on Earth. Both these poems use extensive representations and poetic techniques, and can be compared to show the difference of one’s attitude towards death between the early stages and after some time has