Sylvia Townsend Warner

Sylvia Townsend Warner’s “East London Cemetery” is a somber poem about death in which it is personified.  The poem is about what death would say and do if it could speak to its victims.  Personifying death gives it a bigger sense of depth, which makes death even more daunting. Townsend presents death as indifferent as to who it claims and the lines “this house of call/ show sign-board wears no boast/save beds for all” provides evidence that death does not grant rights or privileges. The second stanza and the first line of “Narrow the bed, and bare/ and none too sweet” could possibly be referred to a coffin.  The line “Comfort, says he, with shrug, is but degree” symbolizes that there is no need for comfort when a person becomes a guest for death.  Also, the title is symbolic as well.  The “East London Cemetery” when used with words such as “comfort”, “sheet”, and “luxury” lead the reader to believe that social class plays a role; however, death does not favor such things and class won’t matter when you become a victim of death.