"The Death of a Toad"
...ed in a position as to remain out of sight. However, it is only at this point that the frog receives notice—in its final dying moments. Often is the case in society; an entire life, overlooked until in its waning moments. It is often this lack of notice that is ultimately responsible for the destruction of life. Although the occasion is sorrowful, the speaker notes that the frog’s death receives short notice as the man looks ahead to the setting sun, with thoughts of the day’s events behind him. The frog is forgotten; life goes on. Imagery is often used to steer reader emotion in a particular direction. Wanting the reader to understand the frog’s lifeless fate, Wilbur details the frog’s exit from one life and his passing into the next. In describing the frog’s “soundless” death, Wilbur invokes reader sympathy. For comfort sake, described is the frog’s spiritual to an “Amphibian Empire” with cooling shores. Grief shifts gradually toward comfort; death, somehow, becomes less tragic. At this point, Wilbur details a sunset with which one ...