The poem “Death, My Friend” is written by Mark R Slaughter,
a biological scientist who was born in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom in
1957. According to Poem Crypt, one of his own website, he developed interests
in biology, music, art, and creative writing at school, and went on to
university to gain a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, a master’s degree in
pharmacology with toxicology, and a master's equivalent in clinical chemistry.
According to him, he initially started writing to challenge his writing skills,
but now he has written hundreds of poems which are featured on community
websites, blogs, newsletters, and in videos on YouTube. He has written couple of other poems on
“Death” such as, ”Death, Inevitable Death,” “Death In Reflection” “Death Is Too
Near” and “Death and I”. I think “Death, My Friend” is about the author trying
to hide is fear of Death by being friend with Death, because the author might
have felt death is inevitable and there is no route for escape. This is why; I think the author repeated the
phrase,” Death, My Friend” several times, and he clearly mentions Death being
his “new acquaintance” and “bosom buddy.”
So it seems like Death is a person and he is standing next to the speaker, and the speaker starts the conversation by saying, “Death, My Friend so good to see you!” Then, he makes few jokes with Death. For example, he tells Death, “I have to say you are looking frightful-Bony chum, you affable ghoul” He then tells Death that Death is his close friend, and “You are always welcome to my home.” So far the speaker is not being serious with Death. He asks Death if he has chance to go to heaven. He goes on to say, “though the stare from your empty sockets, indicates to hell we roam!” so it seems like the speaker is not afraid of Death, and he is trying to make fun of Death. He asks Death, “Be you tired of my frivolity?” Then comes the final line, “Aha, I see- Oblivion, we!” The word “We” at the end could be the indication that the Author thinks Death being with him all the time.
So it seems like Death is a person and he is standing next to the speaker, and the speaker starts the conversation by saying, “Death, My Friend so good to see you!” Then, he makes few jokes with Death. For example, he tells Death, “I have to say you are looking frightful-Bony chum, you affable ghoul” He then tells Death that Death is his close friend, and “You are always welcome to my home.” So far the speaker is not being serious with Death. He asks Death if he has chance to go to heaven. He goes on to say, “though the stare from your empty sockets, indicates to hell we roam!” so it seems like the speaker is not afraid of Death, and he is trying to make fun of Death. He asks Death, “Be you tired of my frivolity?” Then comes the final line, “Aha, I see- Oblivion, we!” The word “We” at the end could be the indication that the Author thinks Death being with him all the time.
First of all, i think the title title “Death, My Friend” itself tells me a lot about what the poem is about. Then comes the first line, “Death, My Friend-so good to see you!” I can say the speaker is excited to see Death, and the exclamation sign at the end makes it even more pronounced. The words like “soul” “heaven” and “hell” indicate that he believes in the existence of spirit and life after death. The language that he has used in the poem almost mislead me to think that the author is not worried about Death, and he doesn’t care about Death, however when I pay closer attention to some of the lines in the poem such as, “stand aloft and view my soul!, Bony chum, you affable ghoul, so charmed-I’m sure!, State your case and tell me straight” I feel like the speaker is helpless. He knows his death is certain, but there is nothing much he can do to prevent it than just wait for the final day; the day Death points at him! For example he asks Death, “Am I worthy of reward, so I venture to Heaven’s Gate?” This line tells me that he believes in heaven and he is concern about it. He also adds, “Though the stare from your empty sockets, Indicates to Hell we roam!” which again shows the fear hiding inside him. The last stanza gives me the most clues about the author’s view on death, because he said: “My! Your finger points at me! Be you tired of my frivolity? Aha, I see –Oblivion, we!” Here, the author first uses the word, “My!” then he corrects himself by using the word, “your” which I think gives me the idea that the author thinks Death is with him all the time; like his shadow. He also corrects himself at the last line by replacing word “we” for “you” which would make his last question look like this: “Be we tired of my frivolity?” Now I am pretty clear that the author thinks that Death will never leave him until he dies, and he is trying to be nice with Death by being his close friend, unlike most other people.
References:
Slaughter, R Mark. Home page.
<http://succumbedtothinking.webs.com/aboutme.htm>.
