An appreciation of a Tony Harrison poem.

... Natalie Ktena An appreciation of a Tony Harrison poem Death is perhaps the only certainty that we as humans have in life. That it will come, both directly and indirectly, is inevitable and each person has their individual response to that: some are afraid, some are upset and some are even excited by the idea. In his poem, Tony Harrison expresses his own views on death generally and particularly on how death has affected his own life. One obviously does not know what the subject of the poem shall be before reading it. The poet takes advantage of this blank page and rather than bringing in the theme smoothly he chooses another method. The poem's very first line reads: 'Though my mother was already two years dead' Harrison chooses to get straight to the point. From knowing nothing, the reader now has to get to grips with the

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