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Donald Justice (1925-2004)
Down through the ages, different cultures of the world have sometimes imagined death as a human figure. In Western cultures, the standard image of death is often that of a skeleton or a scary, hooded figure, dressed in black. The figure often carries a scythe, an implement with a long, curved blade attached to a long handle, used for cutting down tall grasses for harvest. Thus, death is imagined as a "grim reaper," someone who comes to "harvest" human beings. Throughout the ages, writers and artists have created different variations of this standard image.
Incident in a Rose Garden
The gardener came running.
An old man, out of breath
Fear had given him legs.
Sir, I encountered Death
Just now among our roses.
Thin as a scythe he stood there.
I knew him by his pictures.
He had his black coat on,
Black gloves, a broad black hat.
I think he would have spoken,
Seeing his mouth stood open.
Big it was, with white teeth.
As soon as he beckoned, I ran.
I ran until I found you.
Sir, I am quitting my job.
I want to see my sons
Once more before I die.
I want to see California.
We shook hands; he was off.
And there stood Death in the garden.
Dressed like a Spanish waiter.
He had the air of someone
Who because he likes arriving
At all appointments early
Learns to think himself patient.
I watched him pinch one bloom off
And hold it to his nose--
A connoisseur of roses--
One bloom and then another.
They strewed the earth around him.
Sir you must be that stranger
Who threatened my gardener.
This is my property, sir.
I welcome only friends here.
Death grinned, and his eyes lit up
With the pale glow of those lanterns
That workmen carry sometimes
To light their way through the dusk.
Now with great care he slid
The glove from his right hand
And held that out in greeting,
A little cage of bone.
Sir, I knew your father.
And we were friends at the end.
As for your gardener
I did not threaten him.
Old men mistake my gestures.
I only meant to ask him
To show me to his master.
I take it you are he?
Here in Katmandu [1959]
We have climbed the mountain.
There's nothing more to do.
It is terrible to come down
To the valley
Where, amidst many flowers,
One thinks of snow,
As formerly, amidst snow,
Climbing the mountain,
One thought of flowers,
Tremulous, ruddy with dew,
In the valley.
One caught their scent coming down.
It is difficult to adjust, once down,
To the absense of snow.
Clear days, from the valley,
One looks up at the mountain.
What else is there to do?
Prayer wheels, flowers!
Let the flowers
Fade, the prayer wheels run down.
What have they to do
With us who have stood atop the snow
Atop the mountain,
Flags seen from the valley?
It might be possible to live in the valley,
To bury oneself among flowers,
If one could forget the mountain,
How, never once looking down,
Stiff, blinded with snow,
One knew what to do.
Meanwhile it is not easy here in Katmandu,
Especially when to the valley
That wind which means snow
Elsewhere, but here means flowers,
Comes down,
As soon it must, from the mountain.
Questions for Discussion
1. What does the first stanza suggest about the speaker?
A) He views life as a series of insurmountable obstacles.
B) He has come to appreciate the solitude of his quiet existence.
C) He is relieved to have made it successfully back to the valley.
D) He believes he has faced the biggest challenge he will ever face.
2. What was the first sign to the climbers that they were nearing the end of their descent?
A) the absence of snow
B) the flapping of the flags
C) the fragrance of the flowers
D) the turning of the prayerwheels
3. What does the speaker imply about himself in lines 19 to 24?
A) He is worried about dying.
B) He feels above the ordinary.
C) He is just beginning his journey.
D) He is proud of his accomplishment.
4. How did the climbers react to the blinding snow?
A) They were confused by it.
B) They were eager for spring.
C) They were undeterred by it.
D) They were forced to descend.
5. How would the speaker describe the experience of climbing the mountain?
A) fascinating
B) impossible
C) life-altering
D) self-serving
6. What is the speaker’s greatest problem after descending the mountain?
A) admitting defeat
B) overcoming fear
C) surviving hardship
D) finding contentment
7. Which aspect of nature best reflects the actions of the speaker?
A) the dew
B) the wind
C) the snow
D) the flowers
8. What is the central irony in the poem?
A) The prayerwheels, which symbolize hope, have run down.
B) The valley, which is peaceful, is unsettling for the speaker.
C) The speaker, who has survived, sees himself buried in flowers.
D) The flags, which are high atop the mountain, can be seen from the valley.
9. Which word best describes the tone of the poem?
A) angry
B) apologetic
C) complacent
D) melancholic
1. D
2. C
3. B
4. C
5. C
6. D
7. B
8. B
9. D
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