Poetry Precis 2- "The Blue Bowl"

    In the poem "The Blue Bowl", Jane Kenyon uses symbolism to aid in crafting a harsh yet realistic tone through which she is able to convey the irony and hardship of losing someone in life. The first stanza begins with the symbol of the cat being buried "with his bowl", portraying death in an ironic light. The idea of the speaker burying her cat with his own bowl shows the irony of death as what is now being used to conclude his life was once a necessity which kept him alive. Further exploring the irony of death in the third stanza, the speaker writes "we stood and brushed each other off",  explaining how although it is the one who died that ultimately suffers the worst consequence, it seems that the ones left living suffer more as they are left to mourn and cope with the pain. Finally, as the last line of the poem, the speaker writes 'It stormed all night; now it clears, and a robin burbles from a dripping bush like a neighbor who means well but always says the wrong thing", in which she uses a simile to create a parable to explain how it is nearly impossible to console someone after they have lost a loved one and that many attempts to comfort mourners result in awkward and uncomfortable situations. From start to finish, the message of death and the irony and hardships that come along with it are reemphasized by the speaker of "The Blue Bowl" as she uses symbols as tools to make her point.