Dead Boy
Dead BoyJohn Crowe Ransom's "Dead Boy" is a poem about the different opinions in society regarding a child's death. This child while living, built himself many reputations among the town's people. None of the members of society felt it was there duty to help or inform this child of the path he was taken. However, when he dies some criticize his life and feel the need to criticize his actions in life. While all the time knowing they did nothing to change his path. Others feel sorry, but are just as guilty for not helping a child who might have had a future. Instead he is lying in a coffin dead. Society is left to wonder whether his death was necessary?
The first paragraph of the poem discusses the feelings of his kin. They feel uncomfortable with his death of "foul subtraction". Also there are others that do not like the child's unnecessary death. These are the people who did not ever meet or see the child but realize what kind of a tragedy this death was. Ransom makes a statement at the end of the first paragraph "Nor some of the world of outer dark, like me". This is a strong statement for the simple fact that this shows how much of the town, city, world is affected by one child's death.
This next paragraph is by far the harshest. The voices are that of the town's people who say this child was helpless. His death was felt as the only alternative to some. He was called "a black cloud full of storms too hot for keeping". Just as in Mother Nature...
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