DAY'S END by Tu Fu

Oxen and sheep were brought back down

Long ago, and bramble gates closed. Over

Mountains and rivers, far from my old garden,

A windswept moon rises into clear night.

Springs trickle down dark cliffs, and autumn

Dew fills ridgeline grasses. My hair seems

Whiter in lamplight. The flame flickers

Good fortune over and over -- and for what?

1. The writer of the poem "Day's End" has enriched it with figures of speech, identify each and
explain.

Personification. The writer used this figure of speech in the line "The flame flickers good
fortune over...". It is as if a flame is a human who flicks good fortune. Alliteration, it is the
repetition of of consonant sounds in the same line such as /f/ in "The flame flickers Good
fortune over and over"

2. Identify the tone employed by the writer.

The tone of the poem used by the writer is serious and sad at the same time. From the title
itself, "Day's End", the writer here, more like, emphasizes the end of life. The line "My hair
seems whiter in lamplight" depicts a clear sign of aging. It's sad because a person cannot
control the end of his fortune and no one can predict how or when life is going to end.

3. What human virtues are suggested?

The "Day's End" taught us to savor every second of our life and make our days end
meaningful and memorable. The human virtues it suggested is gratitude, contentment amd
acceptance. That as the flame flickers good fortune over and over, we should be grateful and
contented so that at the end of the last flick of good fortune, we will learn to accept how it
fades.