Addressing Profound Loss through Poetry: Death in the Poetry of Dana Gioia

Abstract

The American poet Dana Gioia lost his first son as an infant to death. Dealing with death became a primary theme in much of his verse, culminating in a poetic “letting go” when his son would have turned 21. This paper will examine the metanarrative of death that pervades his work by highlighting the roles of language, faith, and social constructs of grief, death and dying. Gioia uses his works to memorialize lives and deaths, while simultaneously giving life to his lost son.