Elegy For Jane Poem Analysis

The poem “Elegy for Jane” by Theodore Roethke is a free verse poem in which a teacher reflects on the death of one of his former students. He is heartbroken over the tragic event. However, it is unclear what kind of relationship between the teacher and student. Audiences who read the poem might believe that the teacher and student are in some kind of romantic relationship, but they relationship is nothing more than just a student and teacher. This poem demonstrate the reflection of Jane’s death instead of a romantic relationship. Before reading the poem, we can tell who the speaker is. It is stated under the title, (My student, thrown by a horse) making a reference that the speaker is the teacher. The first line of the first stanza, “I remember …show more content…
The first stanza stated, “A wren, happy, tail into the wind, Her song trembling the twigs and small branches.” (II. 5-7) The speaker refer Jane as a wren in this line. Most wrens are small and rather quiet, except for their loud and often complex songs. This show even though Jane is shy, she is quite talkative. Once she started talking, she showed that she delighted in her thoughts. These lines may be indicates to the speaker’s calling on her in class and her corresponding in answering. Also, when she was happy, Jane was like a bird with its tail in the wind; her song was so energetic that small branches trembled. These lines refer to Jane’s being thrown to her death by a …show more content…
It started with memories of a student turn into the harsh reality that she is gone. The speaker said, “My sparrow, you are not here, Waiting like a fern, making a spiney shadow. The sides of wet stones cannot console me, Nor the moss, wound with the last light.” (II. 14-17) The tone of this lines suggests he is speaking to a lost loved one. Also, it solidifies that he is torn by the loss of a student. This lines in this stanza did not suggest a romantic relationship between the teacher and Jane. Because these lines are describing the creek that Jane have thrown into as the speaker was devastated. The speaker describe Jane as a sparrow. The word sparrow have a lot of meaning depend what it associated with, but it all narrow to the meaning of love. This line do seem kind of show the romantic relationship. However, the second stanza is more about the death of Jane than the relationship. The speaker is describing Jane appearance and the surrounding area. Jane has been thrown by a horse in the creek where the water is clear as she scrap her cheek against