The Death of a Toad free essay sample

In Richard Wilbur’s poem â€Å"The Death of a Toad,† he describes the finals moments of a toad’s life and the first changes to the toad upon its death. Wilbur makes the transition of a toad’s death that is tragic because of the lack of attention and concern given to it. As he continues the poem, he shifts the tone from tragic to the peacefulness and respect of a hero. Wilbur exercises heavily loaded diction and vivid imagery corresponding to the tones in order to depict the toad’s death as tragic and heroic. The heavily loaded diction brings tragedy to the toad’s death and progresses to characterizing the toad as a hero. In line four, Wilbur references â€Å"cineraria leaves. † These words announce the death of the toad that was foreshadowed in the title. The leaves the toad lies on will eventually become what will hold the toad’s ashes. We will write a custom essay sample on The Death of a Toad or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is tragic because the toad seems so insignificant to world, including the power mover’s operator. In line five, Wilbur continues describing the toad’s leaves as having â€Å"a dim, low, and final glade. † The toad’s death appears even more tragic because it will fade away and will be forgotten. The words in the second stanza emphasize the tragedy: â€Å"As still as if he would return to stone†¦dies toward some deep monotone. † When the toad metaphorically returns to stone, the toad’s life, presence, and existence is gone, with no one to mourn and remember the toad. The monotone Wilbur mentions presents the idea that the world before and after the life of the toad will not change. However, finally in the third stanza, Wilbur’s diction gives importance and heroicness to the dead toad. The speaker describes the toad’s movement â€Å"toward lost Amphibia’s emperies. † Similar to the life of the toad, the amphibian empires are lost. Although Amphibia’s emperies are lost, the assumption of this the other amphibians, this life and death of this toad are important and deserving of a heroic funeral. Thus, Wilbur’s loaded diction addresses the tragedy of the toad’s death and transitions to his heroism and importance in his amphibian community. Wilbur’s imagery creates the feelings of tragedy and heroism as the poem’s tones shift. When the toad’s leg is â€Å"chewed and clipped† by the power mower, the speaker paints a picture of a toad hopping along a grassy lawn and unexpectedly being injured by the lawn mower. The tragedy is in that the toad was not expecting to be hurt that day or in that moment, but this simple misfortune led to the death of the toad. When he describes the â€Å"ashen heartshaped leaves,† he illustrates literal heart-shaped leaves covered in the toad’s dark ashes. The toad’s death affects the natural beauty of the environment because it covers up the leaves, thus, it is tragic. In the second stanza, when the toad â€Å"flows in the gutters of the banked,† Wilbur represent the unpleasant image of a dead toad being picked up from the place of its death under the tree and being moved by water into the sewer. Ironically, water keeps toads alive—that is their natural habitat—but does nothing to bring the toad to life. Instead, it carries the toad to its place of glory, which is its Amphibian empire. The beautiful imagery associated with the empire gives it esteem. The empire’s â€Å"misted and ebullient seas and cooling shores† form an aura of peacefulness. The phrase â€Å"rest in peace† is often associated with death, and Wilbur provides a place for the toad’s peaceful after its messy death. The shift from gloomy imagery to peacefulness helps present the speaker’s tone transition from tragic to heroic. Richard Wilbur’s shifts in imagery and loaded diction set the tone major tones in â€Å"The Death of a Toad. † The imagery begins gloomy, just like the death of the toad, which helps create a tragic mood in the poem. As the poem continues, the images become peaceful, esteemed, and more heroic. Similarly, the loaded diction creates a change in the tone. The diction begins sorrowful but eventually transforms and included words of admiration and significance. Therefore, Richard Wilbur’s â€Å"The Death of a Toad† is a poem tells of the tragic death of a toad that becomes a hero in an amphibian empire.