The Dash
By Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
From the beginning…to the end
He noted that first came the date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years
For that dash represents all the time
That they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
Know what that little line is worth
For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.
So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering this special dash
Might only last a little while
So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash…
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent YOUR dash?
Summary of The Dash
- Popularity of “The Dash”: The poem “The Dash” by Linda Ellis, an American poet with Irish lineage on the maternal side, appeared in 2004. However, Linda wrote it back in 1996. The poem beautifully sums up the missing information in one’s biography when read or narrated on the death of a person to highlight the importance of serving humanity to fill those gaps signified through dashes. The beauty of the poem lies in linking punctuation with human feelings and life.
- “The Dash” As a Representative of the Service of Mankind: Written in the first person, the poem recounts the death of a person whose friend reads his biography from his birth date to death date with tears in his eyes. However, the poet ruminates that both of these events are filled with gaps she calls dashes. She is of the view that they represented when the friend was alive on this earth doing different deeds which matter little to others. What matters most is the money and the bank balance that the person has amassed, which are insignificant when compared to the good deeds that could have filled his dashes. She comes to the point later in the poem to derive a lesson that if we stop and think before doing a deed how people will respond after our death, then we shall treat all the people differently to fill our dash with good deeds and our funeral prayers with good references for our bios. However, she has posed a rhetorical question about how you would feel when your good deeds were rehashed before the public.
- Major Themes in “The Dash”: Life, death, and the impacts of service of humanity are three major thematic strands of “Dash.” First, Linda Ellis beautifully recounts that when a person dies, his bio comprises only his date of birth and his date of death. His friends and relatives see his wealth, while others see how he has lived. This is life and what stays after death for others is just a matter of a dash. Nobody knows what he has done for humanity or others. However, when a person serves humanity and treats others with tolerance, justice, and love, everybody seems to shower praise when the person dies. This eulogy is to stay for every. Therefore, its impact is everlasting and not that of the wealth that a person has earned in his life.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in The Dash
Linda Ellis has used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of her poem. Some of the major literary devices used in this poem are as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “But he said what mattered most of all” and the sound of /o/ in “And spoke the following date with tears.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /m/ in “mattered most.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /th/ in “So, think about this long and hard” and the sound of /s/ in “Was the dash between those years.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Linda Ellis has used imagery in this poem, such as “If we could just slow down enough”, “And more often wear a smile” and “The cars…the house…the cash.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. Linda Ellis has used the metaphor of dash that has been compared to gaps in life.
- Simile: It means to compare things directly using as or like, such as “Like we’ve never loved before.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols of dashes and lines to show the good or bad deeds in life.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Dash
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: It means the type of language and the type of tone. The poem shows very simple and formal diction but a highly ironic and tragic tone.
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are 9 stanzas in this poem, with each comprising four verses.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote to stress the idea of treating others well.
If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering this special dash
Might only last a little while
