When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

The first reading of the poem is always the trickiest. The reader can easily miss several meanings the author has for the poem. Nevertheless the first time I read the poem I had many questions and yet answers were present but clarity is still in a cloudy state. But I must say that the author the first time I read it spoke on many different aspects of nature. For example the sun, moon, and flowers are spoken of in great detail. Yet the author also speaks about death, like it's a person almost. The author even stated that death was "sacred" in stanza 7. Nevertheless the second time I read the poem, at least the first nine stanzas, I realized that whoever has died most be of great importance to the area if not the country since many across the States ,(notice the capitalization), are morning for this individual. I also realized that the person speaking in the poem went to grieve in the swamp alone with the birds singing. Overall, so far, this poem seems grim but at the same time the author uses things in nature that are very beautiful to contrast all the grimness of the death of a seemingly very important individual. However the poem also flows so well that ending my reading of the poem at stanza nine almost seems cruel since the person who has passed away is neither named or established as male or female, let alone why the individual is of the utmost importance to so many that the death of this person affects the States.