The persona reveals “I have never known hunger like these insects that feast on me” (ll. 2), powerfully revealing the desperation and starvation the bugs buried in the ground were feeling before they could feast. The manifestation of the animals reinforces the acceptance of death as the body is being welcomed and reclaimed by the earth. Imagery is intensified in the second verse with, “Thrown here or found, to freeze or to thaw/so long, we’d become the flowers/ two corpses we were, two corpses I saw” (ll. 5-8), where the reader envisions two rotting corpses either being found or placed in the field, hence the freezing or thawing of the bodies, regardless Hozier counteracts the gruesome description with the immediate image of flowers that will eventually become of their bodies. Although, the two would later become flowers, they are still corpses, but that is natural and is analogous to the path an elderly couple take together fading peacefully into the universe. Hozier continues his vivid imagery writing, “When the cattle’d show fear/ After the insects have made their claim/ After the foxes have known our test” (ll. 22-24) where the animals and critters gustatory senses are elevated once again emphasizing the satisfaction of their hunger and show how valuable the two corpses will be to the ecosystem. The cattle, on the other hand, represent the common man who is afraid of death and returning to the Earth, something bigger than their current lives, unlike the bugs and foxes eating and ultimately playing into the grand scheme of earthly life. Overall, Hozier demonstrates a wide range of vivid imagery to convey and reinforce the theme of the validity of
The persona reveals “I have never known hunger like these insects that feast on me” (ll. 2), powerfully revealing the desperation and starvation the bugs buried in the ground were feeling before they could feast. The manifestation of the animals reinforces the acceptance of death as the body is being welcomed and reclaimed by the earth. Imagery is intensified in the second verse with, “Thrown here or found, to freeze or to thaw/so long, we’d become the flowers/ two corpses we were, two corpses I saw” (ll. 5-8), where the reader envisions two rotting corpses either being found or placed in the field, hence the freezing or thawing of the bodies, regardless Hozier counteracts the gruesome description with the immediate image of flowers that will eventually become of their bodies. Although, the two would later become flowers, they are still corpses, but that is natural and is analogous to the path an elderly couple take together fading peacefully into the universe. Hozier continues his vivid imagery writing, “When the cattle’d show fear/ After the insects have made their claim/ After the foxes have known our test” (ll. 22-24) where the animals and critters gustatory senses are elevated once again emphasizing the satisfaction of their hunger and show how valuable the two corpses will be to the ecosystem. The cattle, on the other hand, represent the common man who is afraid of death and returning to the Earth, something bigger than their current lives, unlike the bugs and foxes eating and ultimately playing into the grand scheme of earthly life. Overall, Hozier demonstrates a wide range of vivid imagery to convey and reinforce the theme of the validity of