ABSTRACT
Death is a subject of universal concern. This chapter shows how various aspects of genre, tone, language, and symbolism can express some of the most profound statements about death and, ironically, life itself. It is concerned with the theme of death in literature primarily for adults, and comprises an approach to death in children's literature. Ancient elegies often took on a pastoral tone with the poet assuming the role of shepherd and the coffin being strewn with flowers by the procession of rustic mourners. The gamut of emotional and intellectual attitudes toward death expressed in literature varies from fear, panic, and horror, to anger, outrage, reconciliation, and even triumph. Nineteenth-century children's literature often viewed death as a form of black humor.
