Van Duyn, Mona : The Accusation

Literature Annotations

Genre	Poem
Keywords	Catastrophe, Death and Dying, Empathy, Human Worth, Individuality, Mourning, Nature, Pain, Society, Suffering
Summary	The poem begins by describing how the "uncaring earth" can destroy millions of organisms "en masse" (i.e., grasses, bacilli). The author applies this analogy to humans: how easy it is to perceive that "the more lost, the less each is worth." The author then argues the value of each individual, and how irreplaceable one is, ending with another analogy: as minute details in nature are appreciated, so should individual lives be valued.
Source	Near Changes
Publisher	Knopf
Edition	1992
Place Published	New York
Annotated by	Chen, Irene and Aull, Felice
Date of Entry	08/01/93