An Analysis of Death Over Water

In the poem “Death over Water” by Elizabeth Rhett Woods, the poet includes many different metaphors as she compares the eagle as a male ice dancer, the seagull as a female ice dancer, and the crows as the crowd. The crows in the poem are described as the audience; they “swirl around” the “dance duo” as they “dance” in the sky. Also, the crows’ screech are like the music to the dance where the “suddenly quiet crows disperse” as the dancers finished the “coup de grace.” The seagull in the poem is described as the female dancer as it is trying to escape from the eagle’s predation. However the chances that the seagull is going to get away is almost zero as the eagle “shadows” the seagull like the male dancer is mimicking every move of the female dancer. The seagull struggles to break through as “each time the gull dodges, /it’s closer to the surface.” The eagle is the predator whom is described as the male dancer. When the two dancers performed the “coup de grace” the eagle finally “knocks the gull out of the air forever” which is like the male dancer made an mistake and injured the female dancer. The use of metaphor is shown through the poet’s view of the eagle’s predation of the seagull as an ice dancing show.