Poem: "The Mountainside Grave"

About two weeks ago, the student teacher for our Advanced English III class asked us to write a poem that somewhat mimicked the dialect of the poems of 17th century England and would include literary devices such as apostrophe, simile, metaphor, paradox, symbol, etc. My production, with the aid of my friend Matt (this was a group poem project), was the poem titled "The Mountainside Grave". The poem was successful. Not only did it earn us 100's, but she entered it into a small contest in which one of her AP English classes voted for the best poem. Two poems tied -- ours and one other; however we won with the best effort made toward our project. The reward: five bonus points on our recent test. On the side, I created a self-analysis of the poem (which wasn't required), which I will include below with the poem itself. I hope you enjoy the poem and understand its meaning. Enjoy!

“The Mountainside Grave”

Alas hear my final dying words
Frozen in time amongst mine rocky grave
Cavern trekked not two-thirds
To obtain the bloody gem thou crave

Three suns rose, have I set here
Warming my freezing passionate heart
Visions form of thou upon the pier
Farewells said before mine ship did part

Mine soul troubled by the dull fire
Precious pearl not yet born of womb
Father abandoned thou, do not admire
The traitor dreaming away to doom

One night prior a knapsack was found
Food n’ drink extinct to the bud
The rocks laughed from the ground
Their energies supplying mine blood

The blood gem flutters cross mine scope
Yet the diamonds reveal thee rounded form
Protruding abdomen like a mountainside slope
Hiding mine child, from winter storm

Oblivion reaches toward mine decaying living shell
Take me now to glorious heaven, or away to blood-shed hell!

Self-Analysis

Brief overview: The speaker ventured off on an expedition to the Alps in search of a prized gem. The speaker left behind his pregnant wife. The speaker only entered a cavern to begin a search when a rockslide trapped him. With the few materials he has, the speaker manages to survive for three days. During this time, the speaker reflects on the individuals that mean the most to him -- his wife and unborn child. The speaker feels guilty and believes he is betraying them to Death, as at this time, he knows that death is inevitable. The speaker addresses his wife and unborn child in the poem, which he wrote on a scrap material he had around the fire he created. In the last couplet, the speaker is so pained by the agonies of starvation, dehydration, and frostbite that he actually wants to die.

Stanza 1: The speaker creates the setting in this stanza. He lets the reader know that he is not in a good situation by the lines “final dying words” and “rocky grave”. In the last two lines, he is telling the reader that he barely trekked the cavern when the rockslide occurred, and then informs the reader of his objective: to obtain the prized gem.

Stanza 2: The speaker states that he has been set in his ‘grave’ for three days now. Even though his heart may be freezing from the elements, he is warming it up by thoughts of his beloved wife. He can mentally picture her the best from their last confrontation -- when he was leaving on the ship from England and she was on the pier waving farewell to him.

Stanza 3: Even though the visions may be welcomed by his heart, they trouble his soul. By the fireside, the speaker reflects on his unborn baby. At this point, the speaker is overwhelmed emotionally, knowing that death is inevitable. The speaker is so troubled that he comes to believe that he is a traitor to his child. The child will grow up fatherless while the speaker is ‘enjoying’ his time with Death.

Stanza 4: The speaker then mentions a side story on how he found a knapsack on the second day. The speaker hoped that the knapsack contained food and drink, but instead nothing appealing to the bud (taste buds) existed within. At this point, the speaker is somewhat hallucinating, and believes that the most ample object in the dwelling, rocks, are mocking him for his folly. The speaker ignores them, and instead believes that they are supplying his blood with nutrients that food or water would do. In this, the speaker is at a desperate point of survival.

Stanza 5: Continuing in his hallucinations, the speaker sees the prized gem float by in his sight. However, the many sides of the gem outline the figure of his pregnant wife. He emphasizes on the only detail the outline depicts to him -- the protruding abdomen that houses his child. In the last line, the speaker states that the womb acts as a shelter for his child from the elements -- which is a direct reflection on the wishes the speaker hopes for; to be in a warm and safe place.

Stanza 6: The speaker writes down his final words before death. At this point, the speaker feels that he is soon to die. He feels the force of oblivion tugging at his soul. Due to his pains from starvation, dehydration, and frostbite, the speaker wishes to die in the last line, and states that he doesn’t care where is final destination is -- he just wants the struggle to be over with.