The Speaker

The unnamed speaker of the poem is deceased and tells us about the events that preceded her death from some sort of afterlife. We do not know much of her life or the events that lead up to the start of the poem. However, we can make some inferences about the speaker based on evidence from the text. The fact that mourners had the time and opportunity to assemble around the speaker suggests that the speaker’s death is not abrupt or unexpected. Also, the fact that the mourners’ eyes were dried out from extensive crying tells us that they had been anticipating the speaker’s death for quite some time. As her death approaches, the speaker is surrounded by distraught people. The presence of the mourners at the speaker’s deathbed, as well as their strong, emotional reactions, suggest the speaker lived a full life and...