lessening their individual burden of cares in this
way. Equally, perhaps it is through the cleansing
effect of the river, which washes away memories. It
is possible that both factors come into play.
The dead are shown as continuing to be inti-
mately involved with the living. They show each
other old photographs of loved ones who are still
alive (line 3), just as in everyday life, aunts, uncles,
and grandparents might proudly show each other
photographs of their young relatives.
The dead examine the lines in the hands of the
living to tell their futures. This is a reference to palm-
istry, the art of telling the future by looking at the
lines and other characteristics of a person’s palm.
The qualities of crackedness and yellowness
in line 5 may refer to the hands of the loved ones
read by the dead, or to their futures, or to the old
photographs that the dead show to one another,
or to all of these. The image, which connotes age
and decay, foreshadows a time when the loved
ones featured in the photographs will also grow
old and die, just like the dead.
In lines 6 and 7, some of the dead are por-
trayed as entering the houses of their loved ones
who are still living. They are shown as entering
the attics of these houses, recalling the tradi-
tional notion of attics as ghostly places where
the belongings of long-dead ancestors are stored.
Lines 8–14
Having entered the attics of the houses of their
loved ones, the dead read letters that they sent to
their loved ones in life. The dead are searching
hungrily in the letters for signs of the love that
they felt for the recipients of the letters. The fact
that they are searching for the signs of the love they
felt implies that they no longer feel it as strongly but
want to regain that depth of emotion.
In line 10, the dead are shown as telling stories
to one another, presumably about their loved ones
or their own lives on earth. This is a raucous event.
The dead make so much noise in their storytelling
sessions that they wake the living from sleep (lines
11–12). This recalls a time when the dead were
alive, when they held all-night drinking sessions
in the kitchen and woke the children sleeping
upstairs (lines 13–14).
Themes
Afterlife
The main theme of ‘‘The Dead’’ is the afterlife. The
poem assumes that people’s souls live on after they
have died on earth. However, the dead are shown
as having physical existence and bodies like those
of people who are still living. They interact with
the living and tell each other stories. They areTOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDYResearch beliefs about the afterlife in at least
three different religious, cultural, or philo-
sophical systems. Note the similarities and dif-
ferences. As part of your research, you may
wish to interview people who espouse the tra-
ditions you are studying. Give a class presen-
tation or make a video or audio CD of your
findings.
Researchthetopicofnear-death experiences,
which are experiences of people who have been
close to death or who have been clinically
declared dead but who have lived to report
their perceptions. Include in your research
both the subjective reports from people who
havehadsuchexperiencesandscientific
research into the topic. Write an essay on
your findings.
Interview a selection of people who have
been bereaved and a second selection of
people who work with the dying and dead.
Identify any important issue or issues that
arise from your research and either write a
report, make a video or audio CD, or give a
class presentation on your findings.
Consider Mitchell’s ‘‘The Dead’’ and any two of
the following poems and prose passages about
death: William Blake’s‘‘A Poison Tree,’’ Mat-
thew Arnold’s ‘‘Dover Beach,’’ Percy Bysshe
Shelley’s ‘‘Bereavement,’’ John Donne’s ‘‘Med-
itation 17: Devotions upon Emergent Occa-
sions’’ (‘‘No man is an island... It tolls for
thee’’), and Anne Sexton’s ‘‘Sylvia’s Death.’’
Compare and contrast your three poems in
terms of authorial voice, themes, style, verse
form, and any other considerations that you
think are important. Write an essay on your
findings.The Dead