Life and death are two sides of a coin that all humans must face. Life is a beginning, but its destination, which we all share, is death, which is inevitable. The journey from life to death is sometimes long and can be exciting and arduous. However, no one knows when they will reach their destination, but we all know that it is inevitable. It gives us a reason to live. As night follows day, summer follows winter, adulthood follows childhood, so death follows life. The poem “Elephant” by Stephen Vizinczey deals with the relationship between passionless life and death. Subtly, it reveals how this life slowly but surely leads humans towards their ultimate reality: death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Initially, the poem suggests that the inauguration of the human journey is life which is very unexciting and relentless. The speaker uses reality as a symbol of life and describes: "it is difficult to see around it a bulky, lordly and laborious beast, endowed with limitless patience, beating paths without passion, unshakably maintaining momentum inexorable and implacable. The “Elephant” is the focus of the title. The speaker compares life to the characteristics of an “elephant” and uses personification. It is difficult to see around the elephant due to its bulky body and therefore life due to significant stress and burdens. The word “lordly” in verse 4 reflects that life is characteristic of God or a divine gift. In the first verse, the speaker considers life as very calm, slow and unpleasant using concrete dictions like "laborious", "limitless", "passionless", "steadfast", "inexorably". The words “inexorably” and “unwavering” rhyme internally, meaning that these words carry much of the burden of the poem upon them. Symbolically, the poem suggests that it is very difficult to see beyond the present life as it moves forward with limitless patience without stopping and turning from its path towards death. By separating the poem into stanzas and giving it a strophic structure with enjambment, the poet makes it clear that this poem is about a continuous journey with each line beginning with a new subject. The absence of characters indicates that it is a lyric poem. In the second quatrain, the speaker explains that everyone is condemned to death, fortunately or unfortunately. The speaker says, “So let's not whip reality but respect where respect is due, we might as well bang our heads against the walls or bang our feet on a stone to refute it.” When life is continuous and unstoppable, why do people criticize and refute it? That's the point; the poet is trying to do in this stanza. Humans develop different feelings when they think about death and most of the time they develop fear in their minds. But everyone knows it will happen to all of us, whether we deny it or accept it. The words "beat", "stub" suggest negativity which the speaker expresses as an idea of ​​criticism and disapproval of the truth of life, which is not necessary. The speaker uses the word “respect” in line 10 which talks about accepting or respecting death and explains that we should accept the reality of life. The poem turns in the third stanza, expressing the idea of ​​the speaker reaching his destination. The speaker says: “Alternatively, I hear a chime: the pachyderm is just one of a myriad of species, each genus unique – could it not be so in reality?.26.