16 pages • 32 minutes read
The Dead
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Form and Meter
“The Dead” is an American sonnet. The term was originally coined by the American poet Wanda Coleman and then later popularized by Terrance Hayes, and refers to a 14-line free-verse poem. Drawing on the tradition of Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets but rejecting its highly formal structure, these poems lack the rigid meters and rhyme schemes of their predecessors and instead experiment with internal rhyme and rhythm. The only real rule for an American sonnet is that it be 14-lines—although this, too, can be sidestepped, as is the case in Billy Collins’s “American Sonnet.”
“The Dead” is written in free verse, meaning it has no consistent rhyme scheme or meter. Individual lines range from three syllables (“they wake us” [Line 12]) to 13 syllables (“their worries for us. They take out the old photographs” [Line 3]). Generally, lines toward the beginning of the poem are longer while the lines toward the end are shorter, giving the poem a visually shrinking quality (although this is not definitive; the penultimate line is one of the poem’s longest). Additionally, the poem enhances its rhythm with repeated words and phrases, such as “They” preceding an action, or the parallel “At night” and “all night” (Lines 1, 14). Repeated vowel and consonant sounds also contribute to the poem’s musicality in lieu of a formal rhyme scheme.
Repetition
“The Dead” uses repetition in two ways: anaphora, or the successive opening of lines or phrases with the same word; and bookending, in which a poem opens and closes on parallel words, phrases, or ideas.
Of the nine complete sentences that make up the poem, only two do not begin with the word “They.” Seven of them, beginning with Line 2 and going until Line 11, open with this key word that becomes a refrain throughout the poem. This creates a list-like structure through which to examine the actions of the dead. The single-syllable repetition creates a mechanical quality within the narrative, as though the dead repeat their behaviors predictably, striving toward something that remains forever out of reach. Several of these repetitions introduce short, finite actions: “They go up to the attics” (Line 7). Others are slower and invite more exploration: “They unburden themselves of their fears, / their worries for us” (Lines 2-3).
In a different use of repetition, the poem opens and closes on mirrored but contrasting images of night gatherings. In the first instance, the living speaker observes the dead coming together to drink from a river that separates them from their former lives. In the second, the speaker unearths a memory of the dead when they were alive: “drinking all night in the kitchen” (Line 14). By using very similar wording, the speaker offers a nostalgic and mournful glimpse of before and after the rupture which separated the dead from the living.
Line Breaks
“The Dead” uses both end-stopped lines and enjambed lines, meaning some lines end on a period while others run over into the next line. In some instances, these structural choices affect the meaning and emotional impact of select moments. The opening line, “At night the dead come down to the river to drink” (Line 1) is end-stopped—a complete and isolated sentence on its own. “The Dead” favors these standalone lines, which is an unusual choice in modern poetry. Lines 7 and 10 are also isolated, complete sentences. Of the lines remaining, the majority either end on a breath beat indicated by a comma, or are end-stopped after a break between one sentence and another. This break in the middle of a poetic line is called caesura, a literary device which introduces breath beats part way through a line of poetry. This occurs in the line “their worries for us. They take out the old photographs” (Line 3).
Other lines use enjambment, which is when a line breaks off mid-sentence without a punctuated break and picks up on the following line. Sometimes, this literary device can give a line a double meaning or raise questions about the nature of the word choice. A good example of this technique occurs in the line, “They read the letters they sent us, insatiable / for signs of their love” (Lines 8-9). In this instance, one line lands on the powerful idea of insatiability. This concept has often been associated with the dead, who are depicted as hungering for the substances and emotions of the living. The question of what they are insatiable for is answered immediately in the next line, but the break gives the reader space to consider the layered meanings of this kind of desire.
Unlock all 16 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,100+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: