“Reading the Obituary Page” by Linda Pastan and “Request” by Lawrence Raab, are two poems of similar interest. Both of these poems can be associated with death.

“Reading the Obituary Page”, when first read, can be thought as about a little kids birthday party. Looking at the poem again, you can see the narrator is realizing that death will come. Pastan writes “in starched dresses/with ribbons/ in miniature jackets/ and tiny ties”. When Pastan was a child, when accompanying a birthday party you dressed in a dress or jacket with your bow ties. When people pass away they are dressed in a dress or jacket with their bow ties. When Pastan writes “we would circle/ the chairs/ at birthday parties/ when the music stopped, lunge to be seated”, literally she mean the children are playing musical chairs but figuratively she could be meaning that everyone is running around having fun with life and when their life (music) stops they lunge into a casket (seat). To end the poem Pastan writes, “one/ by one we were welcomed to hard ground and empty air”. What she could mean is that one by one her friends began to die, welcomed to hard ground (being buried) and empty air (death).

“Request”, is about a person who is sitting down, probably close to death, deciding what song that they want played at their funeral. Raab writes, “Play it at the end of the service/after my friends have spoken/I don’t believe I’ll be listening in”. One can tell that the narrator is talking about a funeral because at funerals music is played at the end, your friends go up and speak memories of you, and the narrator also says “I don’t believe I’ll be listening in”, which tells the reader that he will be dead. Not only is the narrator picking a song to be played at their funeral but they want to pick something that has a bit of cheer in it. Raab writes “Sad enough/at first, but doesn’t it slide into/tapping your feet, then clapping your hands”.