The poem's language reinforces the different perspectives on death that are presented. In the first stanza, the dead man has been "sifted and smoothed" into the corners of the box that contains his ashes. The verb "smoothed" suggests the gradual erosion of pebbles and stones as water runs over them over a long period of time. It suggests that a human being is gradually being reabsorbed into the natural environment. The same impression is conveyed by the image, "a body settles." The context is how people lose height as they get older, but the image of settling suggests a building that may settle into the ground over time, sinking gradually by its own weight. It suggests a preparation for death—the body is getting closer to the earth into which it must eventually.....
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