Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep

The speaker of “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep” manifests through various natural phenomena; in Lines 10 and 11, the speaker takes the form of a rush of air, lifting “quiet birds in circling flight” (Line 11). The speaker describes the draft of air as “swift,” meaning “sudden” (Line 10). But birds called swifts fly in circular patterns, using thermal drafts to facilitate long migrations. Unrelated to songbird species, swifts’ quick, darting movements call to mind their closer relatives, hummingbirds. Their name itself may constitute anthimeria, the transfer of a word from one part of speech to another.

Thinking of the circling birds as swifts amplifies the metaphor of birds as the speaker’s soul. While birds commonly symbolize freedom, nature, or even the Holy Spirit, in this instance, the ever-mobile swift, who can sleep in flight, parallels the speaker’s flexible movement through multiple forms. Once the speaker denies their presence in the grave, they become omnipresent, until they inhabit time itself: “I am the day transcending night” (Line 12).

In keeping with the mood of a bereavement poem, the poem’s natural metaphors occupy two seasons, autumn and winter. The image of grain in poetry can represent potential, the growth process, or the harvest, depending on context.