Death Is Like the Insect

Death Is Like the Insect - meaning Summary

A Strategy Against Decay

The poem compares death to an insect that threatens a tree, framing mortality as a discrete, invasive force. The speaker outlines responses: lure it out, attack with tools, even sacrifice one's resources to defeat it. Those measures represent human attempts to control or remove death. If the insect has already burrowed beyond reach, the speaker counsels a final act—strip away the damaged part and leave it—accepting that some invasions are beyond remedy and that outcome may reflect the intruder’s will rather than human agency.