Analysis Of An Echo Sonnet To An Empty Page

In Robert Pack’s poem “An Echo Sonnet: To an Empty Page”, the narrator is uncertain about what comes with death. He worries about his future and what may happen to him. As the narrator asks questions into the emptiness, he finds answers in the echoes of his voice. Robert Pack uses literary devices such as rhetorical questions, selection of detail, metaphors, juxtaposition, and connotation to construct the meaning of his poem.
Beginning in the first quatrain, the voice is very anxious and uncertain about the future of his life. Through rhetorical questions, he attempts to gain clarity and comfort in the emptiness and finds some answers in the echoes he hears. By writing his poem as an echo sonnet, Pack further constructs the meaning of …show more content…
His previous “cold reprieve” has been warmed by the leaves in nature that “burn red” before dying. The short but graceful life of the leaf is a metaphor for what life should be - beautiful regardless of the time given. This juxtaposition of life as a “cold reprieve” changing into the image of a leaf burning “red” shows how the voice’s view on life is changing throughout the poem by the echo’s prompting. Realizing that nature is stunning in its death, he now understands that life is a wonderful journey leading up to death that should be cherished in all of its beauty. As a matter of fact, dying is a process that can bring “ecstasy” in its wake. Waiting for death is not so bad when an incredible life surrounded by joyful experiences is so readily available to all that are willing to think positively. Regardless of the beauty that comes with life, it can become a burden that people suffer through until death. The grief that comes with “life’s long disease” will be resolved with death - the voice must move past any grief in his life to find joy before time runs out. Death is not an “enemy” to be feared, but a natural part of life that must be accepted. On the contrary, the worst enemy of the voice is himself - his own uncertainty and anxiety have caused all of his pain. All of the rhetorical questions that he asks display the extent of his …show more content…
The voice wonders if he subconsciously wants to “end in sleep”, or die, but recognizes that he can either accept death or be dragged down with it. Because death is inevitable, the voice must take a leap of faith into the “dark” unknown of death to avoid further suffering, as the “dark” of death is a “true” part of life regardless of its haziness. The connotation of “dark” is mysterious and unclear, like the vagueness of death. His subconscious knows that death is necessary, but still acknowledges that it is to be wept