Life Beyond Grief

As a eulogy, “Sylvia’s Death” is told from the perspective of one left behind after another has died. As well as a lens through which to communicate grief, the speaker uses the poem as a way to process feelings of abandonment and betrayal towards the person who has left them. The poem opens with an entreaty to the deceased: “O Sylvia, Sylvia” (Line 1), and spends the first several stanzas exploring this person and the nature of their life and death. Quickly, however, the poem turns inwards to address the speaker’s own feelings of inadequacy.

The speaker begins to recount time they spent together, riding in taxis and going out for martinis on the town, because to exist in a world where this is no longer possible is still too big to consider. Hearing of their closest friend’s death gives the speaker...