Hey there, koinoyokan! I'm Morrigan, and I'm here to review your poem.
I enjoy that you use poetic elements in this piece like personification and imagery. Death is a popular topic to write about in poetry. My theatre professor used to say that all art is either about love or death in one way or another.
That being said, there are a few things I'd like to address.
Since this seems to be set against an antiquated backdrop, why not try writing it a little more like it's poetry from that time period? I'm not suggesting you use rhyme, but how about meter? Meter is the rhythm in a poem, and while there are some lines in which the meter is enjoyable, I think a consistent meter would give your poem a more polished and focused feel. If you're interested in adding consistent meter, check out this resource from our forums: Making Meter Easy
I want to challenge you to rewrite this poem, but not use the word death (or dead, or dying). You use the word five times in such a short poem, and it just sticks out like a sore thumb. Find other ways of conveying the idea of death through concrete imagery. You would be surprised at how much more impact your poem has if you trust the reader and don't hold their hand to tell them exactly what the poem is about. I want to direct your attention to Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Annabel Lee." The poem is certainly about death, and does mention it directly once in the line,
However, Poe is able to convey grief and death without using the actual word once. Try another draft, and see how much you like it.Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
I am confused by the ending. Why does it matter that the clock struck four? It seems like a strange way to end the poem without any further context. I think if you took out that last line, and flipped the positions of the two preceding lines, you would get a solid ending. I recommend tweaking a few things as well. So at the end, you would have:
This is a much stronger ending than "the clock struck four."But death was sad and the man, lonely
And he could not send her away.
I hope that this review proves useful to you! Let me know if you have any questions about my review, and let me know when the next draft is up! Happy writing!
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