Similes Of Life And Death Poem Poetic Devices

Through the use of similes and imagery, Coffin argues that though death is inevitable and emotions are overwhelming, one must persevere. In the first section of the poem, Coffin uses his word choice, similes, imagery, and a gloomy tone to convey the theme. The imagery is being created mostly by Coffin’s word choice and partly by some similes being used. The simile lines, like “two birds on golden legs slim as dream things” ( Coffin 6 ) and “ran like quicksilver on the golden sand” ( Coffin 7 ), show how the birds were looking pretty majestic before the person ended their lives. The choice of words shows how the birds were all full of life before they were killed, especially the use of golden to describe the sand and the birds’ legs. This situation starts the overwhelming anxiety and guilt because they were so free and happy. The imagery lines, like “ I am sure of one sin I have done.” ( Coffin 2 ) and “My gun went off, they ran with broken wings” ( Coffin 8 ), show how the person is feeling guilty and sad about that fact that they killed a few birds for no real reason. By the use of line two, it is shown that the person feels guilty for killing because they refer to the situation as a sin. When a person commits a sin, they knew they did something wrong and usually feel really guilty
The word sin makes the whole line become a lot more serious and important to the rest of the poem. The next line in the poem says “ It was years ago, and I was a boy,” ( Coffin 3