Advice To My Son Poem Analysis

Life is a mixed blessing. We rejoice in the good moments, and curse the bad moments. “Advice to My Son” by Peter Meinke and “Elegy for My Father, Who is Not Dead” by Andrew Hudgins explores the beauty of life and the doubt of a cheery ultimate goodbye. Meinke and Hudgins explore the themes of life and death by means of different perspectives. Through opinions of father to son or son to father, the image of life and death are portrayed. The secret to life may be more difficult than one believes it to be. In “Advice to My Son,” the father explores the dangers and delights of life. The first two lines quote, “The trick is, to live your days as if each one may be your last” (Line1-2). The father, using the word trick, makes the poem sound like a secret rather than advice on how to live, contradicting the title “Advice to My Son.” Though one should live each day like the last, he then exclaims, “But at the same time, plan long range” (Line 5). The father continues the poem with opposing aspects of life such as temporary versus long term and practical versus idealistic. The peony and the rose …show more content…
In “Advice to My Son,” the father and son appear to have a healthy relationship and share the same viewpoints. They both want to live a happy and fulfilling life with the people they love. When death comes around, they will be ready because they lived life to the fullest. In “Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead,” there is a distance between the father and son. The distance of death will eventually separate the father and son since the son rejects the father’s offer into death, but also the distance between them now in life causes a friction. The father is ready to die and continue his life elsewhere while the son does not want to see him go. Meanwhile, the father revisions a perfect place in heaven, much like the one he is in now, where there is a healthy relationship between his