Just as people interpret the same painting differently, death is perceived in many ways from different people. The attitude of the dying to the tone of the family, friends and innocent bystanders can very dramatically. Some cultures celebrate the death of a loved one, others morn. Coping with the stress from a death can be more than some can bear, but to others it is a relief. Poems can bring out the different views of society and the authors by the persona of the character.
             Death does not have to be in the literalist of sense. A. C. Housman pointed this out in "To an Athlete Dying Young". A picture is developed of an athlete running a race with the town there to cheer "through the market-place" (496). Upon the death of the once town hero he is still honored by being carried through the town upon their shoulders as he once was as their champion. When the race of life is over and the glory fades a "still-defended challenge cup" (496) was displayed above a door, as if the goals and dreams were put on the shelf. The author takes on the persona of a bystander.
             In "Ozymandias" written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the author is the speaker who meets a traveler from an ancient culture. The traveler tells of the remains of a king named "Ozymandias" (487). The author used personification in bringing the words engraved on the tomb to life. The traveler states, "That its
             sculptor well those passions read which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things." (487). He mocks the king for all the things he had and did are no more and do not matter. Just like in our lives there are people who try to over power us but upon their deaths what is left of their legacy? Nothing; but sand and dust. The tone is bitter. This was hard to dissect and understand fully.
             "Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden has a bitter sweet tone. It was once thought that by stoppin
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