Andrew
AP Literature 2
Poetry Response #3 Lost Brother

Stanley Moss, in his poem “Lost Brother” is one vast metaphor between the nature and the human race. Moss uses the literary tools of point of view, a shift in town, and appropriate diction to help convey his message between the juxtaposition of mankind and how nature interacts with it. On the surface of the poem it may seem as if the speaker is just a tree and its sad because it knows that it will eventually be cut down and cannot do anything with its life. But actually, the speaker of the poem cares deeply about nature and the land everywhere. He is an environmentalist that watches and tries to protect the land for at least “four thousand eight hundred sixty-two years” The environmentalist is “pained” by every ounce of destruction that the trees under take. The author is using trees as a symbolic metaphor for people in society. Trees are tall and stable; they represent a life cycle and wisdom. In the last line “Sooner or later, some bag of wind will cut me down” The author is trying to explain that you need to live your life the best way you possibly can, because life is not forever and when your time comes to be cut down, you need to have done everything you can to live your life to the fullest. It is a tragedy that it takes a brothers death to realize that you shouldn’t take your life for granted. But what would be even more of a tragedy is to not realize the universal idea of the poem. The tone of the