In the poem, "A Bird in the House" by Elizabeth Jennings, how does the speaker's attitude toward death change?

When the poet witnessed the death of her canary as a child, she was not immediately moved to "tears or sadness" but was struck by the "fitness" of the burial of the canary. However, she later experienced loss as an adult and felt a deep sense of grief:

Not knowing death would be hard

Later, dark, without form or purpose.

After my first true grief I wept, was sad, was dark, . . .

After she finished grieving, she recalled her childhood response to the death of the canary. She feels that her first response was wiser, though it seems to lack sensitivity. She feels that all human experience is a form of play, and death is a kind of farewell ritual:

The yellow bird sings in my mind and I say

That the child is callous but wise, knows the purpose of play.

annyksl annyksl · Answer 2 · 2021-08-24T21:48:15+02:00

The poet's attitude towards death changes due to her maturity and the impact that death has on her life.

By reading "A Bird in the House" we can see that:

The poet shows the impact of her canario's death when she was a child.
She shows that this death was not so impactful, as her feelings towards this moment were very young and immature.
The poet saw the death of the canary as something that happens to any living being and felt no sadness and anguish about it.
As an adult, the poet's perceptions of what death is and its impact matured and intensified.
She realized that although death is natural, it causes the loss of a loved one.
This loss is irreversible and that is why it causes so much sadness, despair and anguish.
She experienced all of this when she lost someone close to her in her adult life.
After that moment, she remembered about the canary's death and was sad again.

After this reflection, we can conclude that the poet shows that the way she reacted in childhood is a healthier way to behave in the face of death, but it is difficult to maintain this indifference towards death after ties are created in adult life, where people better understand the importance of each other.

You can find more information on how to go through moments of grief after the death of a loved one at the link below:

https://brainly.com/question/5839686?referrer=searchResults