Do Not Stand On My Grave And Weep: A Formalist Analysis

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

The title of the poem mentioned above itself reflects the theme of the poem: death, remorse, reassurance and belief. The title though gives imagery of death

and remorse but there is also a feeling of reassurance and belief because use the
affirmation of the poet urging them
visit or not to stand at grave and weep suggest that portion optimistic in some senses.
Another set of interpretation and
suggest the poet is voicing someone else and
speaking on his/her behalf. This twelve lined paper is created in
metaphorical manner containing various imageries
across everyline.
The message being conveyed through
first line is too much to be contained in the first line so with the use of enjambment it runs over in

second line. As the poet mentions he is urging the
visitor not to stand and weep at his
grave because he is not present there. This suggests the eternal presence of
poet/narrator as a soul. The presence of the soul is confirmed in the second line as the poet says that

he/she does not sleep. Evidently souls
do not sleep in grave rather after the
demise of the body the soul leaves the
body and departs for eternity.
As the poem builds up the presence of
soul becomes more and more evident. In the third line the poet compares the
soul to “a thousand wind” that blow.
This is a very strong imagery as one cannot feel the emotions and
physicality of wind.
At the same time separation of soul from
wind cannot be figured out because
wind just as souls are not visible to
naked eyes. In the fourth line the poet compares the soul to“diamond glints” on snow. This is quite paradoxical as unlike wind, glintor flash of light is visible to human eyes. It is possible that the use of

diamond as an adjective gives the soul a specific
shine like glitters. This adjective place soul above the
general as diamond is considered
the rarest gem amongst all. It is also possible that poet wants to
convey that the eternal presence of
soul is evident everywhere be it visible
or invisible abstractions.
In the fifth line the poet brings in the
imagery of nature by comparing the
soul to “sunlight on ripened grain”.

Sunlightbringswithitasenseof
optimismandhappiness. So, itcanbededucedthatthoughthebody
isdeceased, thesoulofthedeceasedoneisalways
evidentintheever-goingprocessofnature. Ripenedgrainbringsinimageryof
fertilityandharvestingseason.
Inthesixthlinethepoetconnectsthe
soulto “gentleautumnrain”. Asonecanunderstandautumncoming
beforewintermakesitaseasonof
barenessastheleavesturnyellowand shedfromtreesmakingthetree bareandalone. Samewaywhensomeonediesthough

thesoulbecomeseternal,butthepeopleclosetothedeceasedonetendtomisshis/herpresence (physical). Thesetwolinesdrawopposite

connectionsofsunlighttorainon
surfacelevelandoppositeconnections
offertilityandbarenessondeeplevel.
Theseventh, eighthandninthlineareconnectedto
eachotherasthereisuseof
enjambmenttopostpone themeaningshardtobecontainedin
onelinetoanotherline. Intheseventhlinethepoetaddresses
theonetowhomthepoemisdedicated
tobyusingsecondpersonnarrative. Poetaddressestheaddresseebysaying
thatwhenhe/shewillwakeupin
“morning’shush” i.e., inthequietnessorsilenceofmorning, thesoulwillbepresentthereinthe
“swiftupliftingrush” of“quitebirds” in “circledflight”. Silenceofbirdsspeciallyduringthe
morninghoursisquite rareasitisgenerallyconsideredthat
birdschirparoundduringmorning
hoursglorifyingthenaturalbeauty. Thequitebirdscanbeviewedasa
metaphorofmourningforthedeceasedperson. Atthesametimetheuseofthephrase “circledflight” canbeviewedasthe

ever-goingcircleoflifei.e., birthtodeathandrebirth. Theoverlappingofeighthlineintoninthlinesuggesttheoppositionalusageof

rushandquietness (asrushingalwaysmakessomenoise).
Thetenthlinedrawscelestialimageryasthepoetcomparesthesoulto
“softstars” which“shineatnight”. Accordingtooldgrandmothertales
whensomeonedieshe/shejoinsthe
everpresentinvinciblecelestialbodies
bybecomingastarwhichshinesatnightandremindstheremainedonesofthe
deceasedone. Useofthewordstarisalsometaphoricalasstarsaresituatedfarawayindistantuniversebeyondhumanlyreach. Onecanonlyseeandadmirethem. Sameasstarswhensomeonepasses

awayhe/shegoesfarbeyondphysical
reach,butmemoriesalwaysstayinmindandheart.
Theeleventhlineofthepoemismere
repetitionofthefirstlinetoremindtheaddresseenottocryandweeponthe
grave. But in this line,there is continuation of
line by the use of semi-colon as in twelfth line the poet brings in a new idea and reaffirmation
of eternity. The last line of the poem is again
metaphorical and sums up the whole
idea of soul being eternal. In the last line the poet addresses that
the soul of the deceased one is not
there as the
moment the body died the soul
left it. He also says that “I did not die”. This particular line conveys strong
message that though the body can die
but the soul can never die. It just travels and passes from one vessel to another. Human body or any living entity can be vessel and itcan decease as well,but the ever-going cycle of life is eternal and thus soul is eternal.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is AABBCCDDEEFF.
The metaphors used in the poem are
very deep analytical and emphasising. E.g., A thousand winds, Diamond glints, Sunlight on ripened grain, Quite birds, Soft stars, etc.

The poet has also drawn binary polar. E.g.,
• A thousand winds that blow (wind is invisible) : Diamond glint on snow (shine of snow is visible)
• Sunlight: Autumn rain
• Morning hush: Uplifting rush.