Essay Questions

How does the line: “the dead man is not a dead man: he is death”, strengthen the argument in “Remorse For Any Death"?

The line is paradoxical as it uses a noun to define an adjective. The paradox exhibits the inseparability of dead and death. Ordinarily, ‘dead’ would have been used to characterize death. Nevertheless, the paradox accentuates the absoluteness of death. The demise of a dead man contributes to the emotional death of the surviving relatives. Accordingly, the dead man’s physical death fuels abstract dead among the living which displays through remorse.

What does the ambivalence in “Adam Cast Forth” concerning the existence of Paradise infer?

In the first line of “Adam Cast Forth”, the speaker asks: “Was there a Garden or was the Garden a dream?” The opening question employs a cynical tone which means that the speaker has misgivings about the reality of heaven. In the last line of the second stanza, the speaker assets, “But I know it exists, in flower and profusion”. This assertion is more certain than the opening question. If the speaker were certain about the reality of the Garden of Eden, then the opening question would have been expendable. The ambivalence in the speaker’s assertion put emphasis on the uncertainty that Christian have regarding the existence of the Garden of Eden; thus the authenticity of the Garden is a puzzle even for those who espouse sturdiest faith. The absence of a factual proof concerning the garden can diminish the faith of Christians, according to Biblical lessons, which is obligatory for them to get to the Garden.

How does the symbol of the river depict the nature of poetry in “The Art of Poetry”?

In “The Art of Poetry”, Borges writes, “Art is endless like a river flowing”. The river emphasizes the boundlessness of poetry. A river with water flows uninterruptedly. Similarly, the composition of poems is perpetual as poets get stimulus from manifold, divergent sources. Therefore, poetry is an interminable art whose incessant flow in the lives of people will go on for infinity.