Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941 Analysis

Matt Cingari E 110 February 11, 2010 Sharon Olds Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941 is a really sad and dreary song. This is because Olds writes to the highest degree the Battle of Leningrad, a 900-day siege of Leningrad during human race War II, and the lifelessness that is going on afterwards. Olds word choice throughout the poem is very important to the meaning of this poem. The stylus that she writes about this meshing paints a very clear picture in my mind of what she is describing. some times thorough the poem, Olds compares life and death many times with divergent comparisons.Olds starts off the poem by saying That pass, the dead could non be buried. (1) This creates a sad tone for when the rest of the poem. She then talks about the atmosphere of the aftermath of the battle with words that help you create a very vivid picture in your head of what she is talking about. She says things the likes of the ground was frozen(2), sub-zero air(5), dark cloth (6), and their pa le, gauze, tapered shapes(9). To me, these descriptive words help me create a visual of what is written grim because these words are sad and dark descriptive words.Olds similarly says So they were covered with something/ and taken on a childs sleigh to the cemetery/ in the sub-zero air. (3-5) When Olds says this it organizes me gestate whether she put the word childs in the poem on purpose. I think she put this in because a childs sled is used in the winter to have fun however, Olds says that they are exploitation it as a way to transfer dead bodies to the cemetery. This is because she is comparing life and death by using a sled, which is supposed to be used for fun in the winter, as a transportation device of corpses.When Olds says stiff as cocoons that will be split piling the center/ when the new life inside is lively(10-11) Again, Olds is comparing life and death by comparing the stiff corpses to cocoons. The equivocalness in this comparison is that the poem says that th e cocoon will split down the center bringing new life when it is ready. I think she says this because when she says that when the cocoon splits to start a new life, it could mean that their new life is not here on earth, but in heaven.Though, the cocoon comparison could also mean that the battle was a turning point in the war. This is because Russia gained pulsation against Germany with that victory, which did start a new life in the war. A arrive at reaching out/ with no sign of peace, wanting to come choke off (15-16) is another comparison of life to death. Olds is saying that the lifeless corpse is subdued making a gesture saying that the dead would return if they could at any price.She says that those people who died in the battle, the corpses, would do anything even to the bread make of glue and sawdust, / even to the icy winter, and the siege. (18-19) I think that the moral of this poem is that life is precious, and that life should never be taken for granted. I think thi s is because the whole poem is comparisons between life and death, and because she says that the people who have passed outdoor(a) would do anything possible to come back to life, even under the rack up conditions, to be loved, to love, and to be with the people they love.