New Historicism in "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep"

“Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”

by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there; I did not die.

New Historicism in “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”

Mary Elizabeth Frye’s “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep,” arguably the most famous poem about death in human history, benefits from a New Historicist reading because it was based on her personal experiences, written for a friend in need, and revealed in a particularly precarious, poignant time.

            In order to get to the real business of New Historicism—figuring out how a work comments on and relates to the historical and sociocultural contexts behind it—interpreters first have to know what those contexts are (“New Historicism”). Historically, this 1932 masterpiece was created in an unsafe global setting. In Germany, there was growing anti-Semitic unrest resulting from the prolonged national economic crises produced by World War I beginning nearly two decades earlier (“What Happened in 1932”). The United States was no stranger to financial trouble, either, with the Great Depression lasting from 1929 through 1939 in full swing and unemployment affecting an astonishing 24 percent of the total domestic population (“What Happened in 1932”). Meanwhile, in India, paragon of peace Mahatma Ghandi was just settling into his cozy jail cell after the current British regime, which did not agree with his plans for Indian independence, had performed one of the many arrests that would define his story (“What Happened in 1932”). To top it all off, in Russia, agricultural policies were causing mass starvation and death (“What Happened in 1932”). Discrimination, poverty, oppression, and suffering were a common international theme.

            Consequently, then, the socially relevant background Frye provided, in being well-equipped to live in such a difficult era, contributed significantly to her concise masterpiece. Orphaned at age three, she had been compelled to endure harsh struggle prior to finding happiness as a successful housewife and florist, developing both noteworthy compassion and resilience (Bates). She and her husband hosted their German Jewish friend Margaret Schwarzkopf at their home the year she suddenly became a poet (Bates). While staying, Schwarzkopf, subsequent to discovering that her mother was severely ill in Germany, felt distraught over being unable to travel to her side in the midst of the reigning unstable political conditions—especially the resentment against Jews fermenting in that country (Bates). Once her mother died due to her sickness, the poor woman told Frye that she wished she could be at the graveside to shed a tear there (Bates). Since Frye understood her visitor’s exquisite pain and the effort implicated in continuing with life following tragedy, she was immediately inspired to jot down “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep” on a brown paper shopping bag (Bates).

            Of course, although Frye did not intend to design a masterwork with stunning kairos—a soothing reminder that the memories of those who have passed on remain with their surviving loved ones, or “[do] not die” (Frye 12), and are resurrected in simple environmental instances of beauty—that helped to heal broken hearts around the world, she did (Bates). In gracefully expressing that the happinesses the dead have nurtured in their grieving companions are brought to mind by everyday spectacles in nature, like light sparkling on snow (Frye 4), she gave them a new perspective with which to withstand their challenges: an acknowledgement that, despite the fact that someone dearly beloved dying, and deep misfortunes as a whole, must sometimes be accepted, how survivors move on is a personal choice. Their most positive, and likely ultimately healthy and productive, option is to celebrate the time that they were blessed with the deceased’s presence—smile at the small miracle of a soft patter of rain outside their windows (Frye 6). Frye’s writing to comfort and encourage a buddy ended up being a universal coping tool.

            Jews in Germany already starting to confront the unearned bitterness that would later, in the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust characterizing World War II, hurt them still more; destitute families in shanty towns across America; mistreated Indians crying for a nonviolent hero championing freedom and forced to exist behind bars; and overworked Russians praying for their next meals each benefitted from the determined hope that Frye communicates in “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.” And in the twenty-first century, diverse nations are continuing to do so.

Works Cited

Bates, Jordan. “The Most Celebrated Meditation on Death in Human History.” HighExistence.com, highexistence.com/do-not-stand-at-my-grave-and-weep-mary-elizabeth-frye-death-poem/.

Frye, Mary Elizabeth. “‘Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.’” FamilyFriendPoems.com, www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/do-not-stand-by-my-grave-and-weep-by-mary-elizabeth-frye.

“New Historicism Introduction.” Shmoop.com, Shmoop, www.shmoop.com/new-historicism/.

“What Happened in 1932: Important News and Events, Key Technology, and Popular Culture.” ThePeopleHistory.com, www.thepeoplehistory.com/1932.html.