The Death of a Soldier
The Death of a Soldier - meaning Summary
Autumnal, Unceremonious Death
Stevens presents a spare meditation on a soldier's death as ordinary and inevitable rather than heroic. Using autumnal imagery, the poem insists death is absolute, unadorned by ceremony or lasting memorial. Life "contracts," the soldier simply falls, and though the wind stops for him, the clouds continue to move. The effect is a quiet, unemotional acceptance of mortality and the world’s indifference to individual passing.
Read Complete AnalysesLife contracts and death is expected, As in season of autumn. The soldier falls. He does not become a three-days personage. Imposing his separation, Calling for pomp. Death is absolute and without memorial, As in a season of autumn, When the wind stops, When the wind stops and, over the heavens, The clouds go, nevertheless, In their direction.
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