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A Toad The Power Mower's Poem

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A Toad The Power Mower's Poem
The poem opens bluntly with the speaker’s rather callous observation, “A toad the power mower caught.” The initial lack of sympathy is evident in the objective description given in the next few lines about the toad’s injury and movements. However, when the toad hides itself in the cineraria leaves, the death becomes an almost holy event. The imagery represents a picturesque garden with “ashen heart-shaped leaves” characterizing the death as a formal funeral rite. The garden “sanctuaries” the toad and he is laid to rest on a “dim” “low” “final glade.” The diction is religious in connotation and leaves a somber and sacred impression.. The atmosphere goes from mundane to spiritual capitalizing that the toad will soon be interred into the ground.
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