Poem Analysis: Firefly By Deena Larsen

A firefly, a lover, a memory: all can disappear within the blink of an eye. Experiencing loss is a dreadful time that all humans must undergo. Deena Larsen compares one’s lover who has passed to a firefly who has lost his light. Larsen’s Firefly has six stanzas each five lines long and six lines deep which uncovers the ulterior meaning of loss and loneliness from unrequited love. On the surface, it is just a simple poem about nature, but the six-line depth gives it a greater purpose. The firefly represents a vulnerable human companion that has lost his connection with the living. In one reading of the poem, the narrator states, “I long for the sound of his wings to hear symphonies between us” (Larsen Stanza 5). When grieving, the speaker finds it difficult to let go of her lover, and she yearns for one last goodbye. The narrator watches, “his dark body fly off toward other lights obscuring the horizon” (Stanza 6). Thus, she is finally …show more content…

It begins with the narrator stating, “Slowly I slip into oncoming twilight in unutterable silence of fog and green light” (Stanza 1). The dark foggy atmosphere represents her loneliness now that her lover has vanished. When the narrator lays her, “back against the ancient elms until they shiver with their age,” (Stanza 2) she reminisces the memories of her lover. Larsen demonstrates how the elms are shivering with age just like her lover did, and she slowly starts illustrating the memorial in the background as the reader continues. As the memorial becomes more visible, the narrator recounts, “I watch him light on a blade of grass and he stays without breath, without motion,” (Stanza 4). Using the firefly to represent the deceased, Larsen also compares the forest to a memorial through her description of the atmosphere and visuals faded behind her