Cremation shown as an act of caring and friendship.
In "The Cremation of Sam Mc Gee" there is a clear description in the form of a narrative poem.This folktale tells about a true friend who cared a lot for a person dear to his heart .This person, Cap, the speaker of the poem, had asked for a favour and the heartbroken companion feels he has to fulfill the promise.
The beginning of the poem in its first two stanzas offers images which seem steange for the human eye, such as .."The Arctic trail".. or .."The Nothern Lights".., though nothing compares to the vision of the cremation of a friend by a cold lake.The repetition of these images in the beginning and at the end of the poem convey a meaning of something lugubrious.
Christmas, a time for joy becomes a moment of sorrow for Cap who has to satisfy the wishes of a soulmate .The weather was cold and there is the mentioning of words relating to suffering such low temperatures.The words relate to the coldness of death and also to the fact that being cold can be comforted by making a fire.That is exactly what Cap needs not only to accomplish what had been asked , but also to warm himself under the circumstances.
The tone of the poem is sad .There is a loss but at the same time Cap feels some kind of contentmet he has been able to accomplish this action his friend requested .At the same time there seems to be a longing for the nights and days spent together .In fact, when Cap returns to the ship he finds Sam sitting by the fire and asking Cap to shut the doorm no to let the cold in.
The subject matter of the poem is the duty Cap has.The problem is that the action he has to perform , though it is human and considerate, is macabre at the same time.Burning the body of someone close is hard.The sole image is grotesque.
Finally, the rhyme plays an important role in the poem.As it is a ballad in the form of a recitation piece, the rhymes seem to be arranged in such a way that the listener is caught in the world of irony.
Being cold and dying under such cruel weather and ending up cremated in the proximity of a frozen lake by the hand of a friend is something desolate. Yet ,there is a duty to a friend and an action has got to be done.
