Grief

An Elegy for Ernest Hemingway, by Thomas Merton Now for the first time on the night of your death your name is mentioned in convents, ne cadas in obscurum. Now with a true bell your story becomes final. Now men in monasteries, men of requiems, familiar with the dead, include you in their offices. You stand anonymous among thousands, waiting in the dark at great stations on the edge of countries known to prayer alone, where fires are not merciless, we hope, and not without end. You pass briefly through our midst. Your books and writing have not been consulted. Our prayers are pro defuncto N. Yet some look up, as though among a crowd of prisoners or displaced persons, they recognized a friend once known in a far country. For these the sun also rose after a forgotten war upon an idiom you made great. They have not forgotten you. In their silence you are still famous, no ritual shade. How slowly this bell tolls in a monastery tower for a whole age, and for the quick death of an unready dynasty, and for that brave illusion: the adventurous self! For with one shot the whole hunt is ended! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Where is “The Management of Grief” set? 2. What is the narrative point of view? 3. Why do you think the story is titled, “The Management of Grief”? Could the word management have multiple meanings? 4. Who is Ernest Hemingway? What is an elegy? Why does Thomas Merton feel compelled to write an “Elegy to Ernest Hemingway.” 5. Write your own elegy. It may be about a person you know, somebody famous, or an historical figure. Title it “Elegy for __________.” Discussion Filter by: All Threads