The Death Bed Essay Questions

What does water represent in the poem?

Water is the environment of the dying soldier's consciousness. The man's "mortal shore" is "Lipped by the inward, moonless waves of death" (Lines 5-6). Water provides a sense of movement in a journey towards sleep and death. The fluid nature of water helps form the shifting impression of the soldier's consciousness.

In addition, the presence of water outside the soldier's mindscape serves to reflect his inner state. A caregiver gives the soldier sips of water, showing that he requires help to get his basic needs met. The rain falling on the woods outside the ward "Gently and slowly [washes] life away," foreshadowing the soldier's death (Line 27)

How does the form affect the content?

"The Death Bed" is composed of seven stanzas of different lengths, a long and meandering form that prolongs the arrival of the soldier's death. Though the circumstances that led to this premature death are terrible, the process of dying in the poem is comparable to the way the rain "Gently and slowly [washes] life away" (Line 27). It is not a quick and fast violence that is presented in the poem. The individual lines themselves are relatively long, adding to the lingering effect.

The poem is written in blank verse that at times does follow iambic pentameter. This gives some semblance of order to an experience that is portrayed as meandering and mind-altering.

What is relevant about the season of summer in the poem?

Normally, it is winter that symbolizes endings, sleep, and death. The pairing of summer with death provides an interesting tension in that summer is generally considered a time of warmth, possibility, and joy in the Northern Hemisphere. In the poem, it is summer both in the soldier's internal landscape and in the physical world. However, it is nighttime in the physical world, and the darkness obscures all light, suggesting the soldier's approaching death. The presence of distant thudding guns in this lush time of summer is a warning to the reader that the horrors of war can intrude upon any setting.