An extremely thought-provoking example of a poem which deals with the tragic loss of a legend in an interesting way is 'The Death of Marilyn Monroe' by poet Edwin Morgan. The poem centres around Hollywood sex icon Marilyn Monroe and how the life she lived and the people she met may have, in some way, contributed to her eventual death in 1962.
The poem opens dramatically with four questions, written one after the other, conveying how the American public reacted when they discover Monroe's death. This has the excellent effect of portraying to the reader the themes of responsibility and innocence. .
"What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?".
Morgan uses the words 'innocence' and 'guilt' to further these themes and to emphasise just how childlike Monroe was believed to be. This makes the reader pity Monroe and creates a feeling of tragic loss.
In comparison to line one - lines two and three slow the pace down and create a sense of vulnerability and weakness in Monroe which isn't present in the first two lines.
'Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed.
white hearse, Los Angeles,'.
Morgan uses the metaphor 'crumpled orphan' in further portraying this image of innocence. Morgan portrays Monroe as a child, a child that is broken down because of the life she leads. This idea of her child-like innocence is continued in the phrase 'white hearse' which is usually associated with the death of a child. It is here that Morgan first introduces the theme of responsibility for her death.
In line five, Morgan significantly speeds up the pace of the poem by employing a similar idea that he used in the opening line, only instead of using question marks he uses exclamation marks. He does this to try and place the responsibility for Monroe's deaths on what he believes are the most likely suspects.
'Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!'.
Here, Morgan repeats 'Los Angeles' and as Los Angeles is the centre of the American film industry, he is placing partial responsibility for Monroe's death upon it.
